


Reap This!

by Yinepuhotep



Category: Knights in Tarnished Armor, Mass Effect
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-22 12:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 100,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2508494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yinepuhotep/pseuds/Yinepuhotep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Normandy picks up a traveler from another universe while hunting Collectors. That's when things START to get weird....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Remember, if you're thinking this is a bit unrealistic, it's using both video game and space opera conventions. It's SUPPOSED to be unrealistic.

**January 29, 2185  
** Sigurd's Cradle  
Skepsis System 

"Uh ... Commander? Would you come up to the cockpit? Please?" Joker's voice sounded strained, in a way that John Shepard had never heard before.

"You'd better hurry, Shepard," Yeoman Kelly Chambers suggested. "I've never heard Joker sound this upset."

"You and me both," Shepard said. "Keep an eye on things while I'm gone, eh?"

"Of course, Commander," Kelly said, her smile belying the shift from friendly counselor to professional spacer that her words conveyed. Shepard was already half-way down the walkway around the CIC, covering the ground to the cockpit – Joker's kingdom – in the ground-covering walk he had perfected over years of dodging bullets in the Alliance special forces.

"EDI," Shepard called as he traveled the length of the Normandy's combat deck, "what's going on with Joker?"

"If I did not know better," EDI's voice replied, "I would suspect Mr. Moreau of playing a practical joke on us all. However, since a joke of this nature would endanger the Normandy, I believe we can safely rule that out. In addition, his heart rate, respiration, and autonomic responses are suggestive of surprise and fear, not amusement or anticipation. However, since there is nothing untoward inside the ship, and I am not registering anything outside the ship, I am at a loss for an explanation."

"I'm telling you, EDI, there's someone out there!" Joker insisted as Shepard passed the main airlock. "There must be something wrong with your sensors!"

"I have just run diagnostics on the entire sensor net, and everything returns normal," EDI insisted, her blue globe of lights shifting to red as she spoke.

"Someone out there?" Shepard asked. "Joker, are you feeling all right? We're half a million miles away from the nearest planet, let alone civilization. Hell, there aren't even any geth out here."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Joker insisted. "We're cruising at 200x, and suddenly someone's out there, waving at me like he's trying to hitch a ride!"

"OK, OK, I get the picture," Shepard said. Damn. Joker was the last person he'd expected to crack. His approach to his duties was so ... Zen.

"Commander Shepard," EDI said, her lights turning pink as she spoke. "I believe we may have an explanation for Mr. Moreau's distress. I have just received a request to come aboard. Commander, the request came via my ground maintenance port."

"There's no other way it could have come into that circuit?" Shepard asked.

"None," EDI said. "That circuit is hardware-isolated."

"All right then," Shepard said, checking his pistol and switching it to cryogenic ammunition, "let's call this thing's bluff. Give permission to come aboard."

"Commander!" Joker protested. "We're traveling at two hundred times the speed of light! There's no way we want to let whatever's out there, in here."

"It asked politely," Shepard said. "It would be rude to refuse. Besides, if it were hostile, I doubt it would have rung our doorbell."

"Outer airlock door activated," EDI announced. "Nothing apparently – correction. One human male, approximately 1.8 meters tall, wearing a lab coat typical of the late 20th Century, over denim pants, hiking shoes, and a lightweight shirt with a slogan of some type on it. The lab coat has a logo on the back, that does not correspond to any organization, school, or corporation I am familiar with."

"Can you display it for us?" Shepard asked.

EDI's blue globe vanished, and in its place was an image of a golden circle, with the circumference in the form of gear teeth. Crossed lightning bolts in the center separated a biohazard warning emblem, a simplified – and very, very outdated – drawing of an atom with six electrons orbiting the nucleus, a simple retort and flask, and a mushroom cloud. Around the perimeter of the circle, between the gear teeth and the symbols, were words in English. Around the top of the circle was written: "Mad Scientists Union". Around the bottom was written: "Local 42".

"Mad scientists union?" Joker asked, his voice rising toward hysterical. "He'll fit in just fine around here."

"Joker!" Shepard barked. "Damn it, keep it together! Normandy's your baby! She can't get us home without you!"

"You're right, you're right," Joker said, his eyes wide with fear and anxiety. "But ... 200x, Commander! How?"

"Trust me, that's right up there on my list of questions," Shepard said.

"Decontamination is complete, Commander," EDI announced. "Cerberus has no protocol for a situation of this nature. However, I recommend proceeding with caution. There is no protocol for a situation of this nature because it is so far outside what is generally accepted as possible. We are entering uncharted territory."

"I know," Shepard said, smiling as he felt a rising sense of anticipation. "Just like when I untanked Grunt. Go ahead and open the door."

The inner door to the airlock slid aside, and Shepard found himself face to face with ... well, not what he was expecting. The being in the airlock _did_ look human, and _was_ wearing a lab coat. Everything about him was so ordinary, it could have been easy to forget that he had just boarded the ship from deep space, at a speed well above the speed of light. He had hazel eyes, and long, mouse-brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail. The shirt EDI had been unable to view clearly was chocolate brown, and had, in white letters, the words "And on the first night, God said (an image of a caffeine molecule filled this space) and there was COFFEE".

"Do you guys need help with your hyperdrive?" the stranger asked. "I noticed you were using your emergency drive, and I figured that since I'm stuck here until I find a way home anyway, I might as well help out where I can." He shrugged, then raised a hand. "Oh, uh, speaking of help, I deposited bunch of shipwrecked civilians in the colony on the third planet out in this system. I was able to stop the pirates from taking them away, but their ship was too badly damaged to salvage. So I helped them put down, and came out where I could hopefully get a better picture of where the pirates came from." He seemed to notice his hand was raised, extended it, and said, "Hi. My name's Fred. Fred MacManus. I'm kind of lost."

"Kind of," Shepard said dryly. "Where are you from?"

"What do you know about quantum physics?" MacManus asked.

"Only the basics you get in a survey course," Shepard said. "I'm not an engineer, so it's not my field."

"So my explanation is likely to make no sense to you," MacManus said. "Got it. In simple terms, I'm from Wisconsin. Only problem is, my Wisconsin is about ... Edgar?"

"Three hundred forty-two points," a second voice said, from about the middle of MacManus' chest.

"About 342 points off on quantum resonance," MacManus said. He paused, shook his head, then asked, "Look, who's in charge of your science staff? It's obvious this is a science ship, since you don't have any weapons to speak of. I'm terrible at translating science into English, but hopefully your chief scientist can do a better job than I can."

"I'll introduce you to him soon enough," Shepard said. "For now, would you mind telling me where your ship is?"

"He's back home," MacManus said.

"Wisconsin," Shepard said, giving MacManus a suspicious look.

"Laputa," MacManus said. "That's my home now. Spent most of my life in Wisconsin. Things changed. I built Laputa. Now I live there with my family and friends."

"You have family?" Shepard asked. "Why are you out here, then?"

"Got banished again," MacManus said, shrugging. "Don't worry, if the bastard who did it is still alive when I get home, he won't be for long. But I suspect my wives will have disassembled him by now."

"Uh ... wives?" Joker asked.

"Yeah," MacManus said. "I noticed your ship is artificially intelligent. Is your AI named Normandy, too?"

"The crew calls me EDI," EDI said.

"All right, EDI," MacManus said. "Do you mind if I borrow one of your displays?"

"No," EDI said. "I don't mind. I suggest the display to the starboard of Mr. Moreau."

"Mr. Moreau?" MacManus asked.

"That would be me," Joker said, raising a hand.

"Ah," MacManus said. "Do you have a handle, nickname, anything of the like, that you prefer?"

"Just call me Joker," Joker said.

"All right," MacManus said. "Just call me Fred."

The display in the starboard gunner's station lit up, and after a moment, resolved into a holographic image of three women. One was human, with wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and olive skin. She was dressed in a lab coat, over an ancient fighter pilot's jumpsuit. The second had pale skin, hair as black as night, and an unearthly beauty that made Shepard's heart race – until he moved, and saw her other side. One half of her figure was supernaturally beautiful, but the other half looked like an unnaturally animated corpse. She didn't look like a husk, but that was the closest Shepard could come to a comparison. He turned his attention away from her, to the third woman, who wasn't so much beautiful, as cute. She was noticeably shorter than the other two, had black hair and matching eyes, and appeared to be wearing a pair of costume animal ears on combs or a hair band.

"You're married to all three?" Joker asked, openly disbelieving.

Shepard could hardly blame him. Multiple marriages weren't common, even on colonies where the practice was legal. In his career, he'd only met two he was certain were groups, and another one he suspected, but had never been sure of.

"Yup," Fred said. "Miri's a fighter jock, just like me. Well, a fighter jock and forensic pathologist, rather than a fighter jock and mad scientist. Poor Manfred's been going out to play alone, more and more. Miri just doesn't have the time to blow up Scylla, what with all the investigations she's been involved with lately. Hel's been cleaning up the mess her 'uncle' made of her kingdom while she was little. And Ri's been getting accustomed to Earth. It's harder for her, since there is no Salusia in my universe. Even being humanized, little things like her primary ears still make her stand out. But that didn't stop her from coming home with me when I finally found my way back from her universe."

"So your wives' names are Miri, Hel, and Ri?" Joker asked.

"Yup," Fred said. "Miriam Groenschild MacManus, Hela Lokisdottir MacManus, and Kad'rianna Salustan MacManus. I insisted they all keep their names when we married. The idea of a woman giving up her name when she marries always seemed a bit barbaric to me."

"Commander, we need to go to Laputa for shore leave," Joker said, deadpan.

"If we can fix your hyperdrive so it can make the jump, you're more than welcome," Fred said.

"Hyperdrive?" Joker asked.

"That's the second time you've mentioned that," Shepard said. "What is it?"

"What is it?" Fred asked, surprised. "You don't know what a hyperdrive is? You mean ... what you're using is your main drive?"

"Of course," Joker said. "Hey, are you all right?"

"I – I will be," Fred said, sinking into the gunner's seat. After a minute of staring out into space, he rubbed his forehead and said, "Edgar, see what EDI is willing to tell you about their tech base. Let's find out where we need to start from."

"Will do, Dad," the voice from Fred's chest said.

"Commander," EDI said, "I am receiving a request for access to my technical databases."

"That would be me," the voice from Fred's chest said. "I'm Edgar. I'm Dad's systems manager. Without me, he'd have all sorts of trouble controlling this body."

"Go ahead, EDI," Shepard said. "And tell Tali I'd like to see her in the briefing room." He looked at Fred and said, "You, come with me. I'm going to introduce you to my chief engineer."

"That would help a lot," Fred said, as he pushed himself to his feet. "Lead the way, Commander."

"Should I request Professor Solus?" EDI asked.

"That's a good idea, EDI," Shepard said. "Go ahead and ask him to meet us, too."

"Don't forget, Commander," Joker called as they left the cockpit, "Shore leave on Laputa."

"I won't forget," Shepard said. "Check out the third planet, and call me if you find anything."

"Setting course for third planet," Joker said.

Tali was exiting the elevator as Shepard and Fred passed the galactic map. She fell in beside Shepard, while giving Fred a curious look. Fred grinned and gave her a cheerful wave.

"You must be the chief engineer, ne?" Fred said. "I'm Fred. Fred MacManus."

"And I'm Edgar," Edgar said. "And we're not associated with Cerberus. In fact, given what I've seen in the files, Cerberus goes right after DSS on our list."

"That bad?" Fred asked.

"That bad, Dad," Edgar said.

Tali looked from Fred to Shepard, then asked, "Shepard? Can you explain this?"

"In Briefing," Shepard said. "Mordin needs to hear it, too. I'm still trying to get my own head around it."

"Not gonna happen," Fred said, chuckling. "If it involves me, it's probably too weird to get your head around."

The door to the lab opened, and they walked in, Shepard leading the way to the corridor exit. Fred stopped suddenly.

"Salasa? Here?" Fred asked, surprised, then said, "Kieróso Fred MacManus."

"New crew," Mordin said, his eyes opening wide. "Don't recall docking or landing. Accent very thick. Good attempt, though. Kyrôso Mordin Solus. Best to use translators. No alienating other crew."

"You speak Salarian?" Shepard asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked Fred over.

"Back home, they're Salasa," Fred said. "Best there is at anything that requires quick minds. Most companies have Salasa heading up their R&D units, and there's a lot of Salasa salesmen, too. And you don't even want to know what a Salasa tactical team is like." He grinned. "Scylla never even knew what hit them. Damn, that was a good week."

"You've cleaned the briefing room today, Mordin?" Shepard asked.

"Impossible," Mordin said. "QEC gaping security hole. Can monitor room, regardless of activation. Laboratory is only clean room on ship."

"In that case, we'll talk in here," Shepard said. "We just picked up Mr. MacManus, and he poses an interesting problem."

"Just call me Fred," Fred said. "And given what Edgar found, I'd say I'm the least of your problems. In fact, I could be an asset. Both for your Collector problem and for your Cerberus problem."

"If we just picked you up," Tali asked, "where is your ship?"

"Back home," Fred said. "I didn't come out here voluntarily. I was dumped here."

"In space?" Tali asked. "Someone didn't like you very much."

"That's an understatement," Fred said, chuckling. "The DSS and I go way back. They've already killed me once, and they're rather unhappy that they can't do it again."

"Mr. MacManus," EDI said, "I have a question."

"Go ahead, EDI," Fred said. "And just call me Fred, OK? The only people who call me Mr. MacManus are con artists and government officials. But, I'm being redundant."

"Like his attitude," Mordin commented. "Implies much experience with government."

"Too much," Fred grumbled. "So what was your question, EDI?"

"Your holo, and your statements, imply that you are married to a mythical being. Is this correct?" EDI asked.

"You mean Hel?" Fred asked, his smile revealing a depth of love that Shepard recognized from his memories of Liara. "Oh, yes. She's mythical, she's real, and I love her with all my heart."

"Yet you are also married to a human and a Salusian, yes?" EDI asked.

"That's right," Fred said. "And I love them with all my heart, too. It's as easy for me as it is for you to give your full attention to each system on this ship."

"I see," EDI said. "I had not expected such flexibility from an organic person."

"A lot of people don't," Fred said.

"Commander," EDI said, "you wanted to be informed when we arrived at Franklin."

"Right," Shepard said. "Tali, you're with me. EDI, have Garrus meet us at the shuttle. How much time do we have?"

"All the time in the world, Commander," EDI said. "The crisis has passed."

"The crisis has passed?" Shepard asked. "What do you mean?"

"The missiles are no longer a threat to the colony," EDI said. "Mr. Moreau seems somewhat agitated by the situation, though."

"Somewhat agitated, it says," Joker cut in. "Commander, you have got to see this! There's a crater where the missile base used to be!"

"Oops?" Fred said, shrugging. "That does remind me, though. Do you people really have access to so much unobtainium that you can put it in your missiles?"

"What do you mean, 'oops'?" Shepard asked, fixing Fred with an annoyed glare.

"Well," Fred said, "when I helped those people get down on the planet, I noticed a couple missiles headed toward the colony. So, I reprogrammed their targeting to send them back where they came from. I figured whoever launched them at the colony was either more pirates or a government that needed obliteration. Either way, their own weapons could do the job for me."

"Simple," Mordin said. "Elegant. Efficient. I approve."

"What do you mean, unobtainium?" Tali asked.

"It's an extremely rare element," Fred said, "that only occurs naturally on planets that were within a few light years of a supernova. The most reliable sources are the cores of gas giants that were in the same system. Since most planets get destroyed completely, gas giants are the only ones likely to leave enough behind for the elements to plate out on, and even then, unobtainium is so rare that you're only likely to get a few tons from a single planet. Most of what we have in my universe is created in the lab, which makes it obscenely expensive. The weird thing about it is, despite being generated in supernovas, the element has no mass, and seems to be made entirely of naked quarks."

"And you found this element in those missiles?" Tali asked. "Where?"

"Edgar?" Fred asked. "Want to show them the system we found it in?"

A holographic display appeared in front of Fred, showing a portion of a missile, just forward of the engine. Tali peered at the display for a moment, then laughed.

"That is the missile's mass effect core," Tali said. "You must be talking about eezo."

"Mass effect core?" Fred asked. "What does it do?"

"In a missile," Tali said, "it raises the mass so the missile is too heavy to be stopped by shields."

"That explains the horrendously poor acceleration, then," Fred said. "Not that I'm complaining. If they'd accelerated like normal missiles, I'd have had to destroy them, instead of returning them to sender."

"We could have saved them for parts, you know," Edgar pointed out.

"Sure, if we'd had a workshop somewhere," Fred said. "Kind of hard to keep spare parts on hand if they're just laying out like abandoned junk."

"Given all the places there are to stash them, that's hardly a problem, Dad," Edgar said.

"Are you an AI, Edgar?" Tali asked.

"Oh gods, you've done it now," Fred groaned.

"Listen, miss," Edgar growled. "My intelligence is no more artificial than yours is. Just because I happen to be incarnated in a MacManusite brain instead of a cholesterol one does not make me any less of a person. I swear, if I get the AI question one more time, I'm gonna sprout a PBR of my own and go all orc on whoever asks it."

"I'm ... sorry I asked," Tali said, taking a step back in surprise. "If you're not an AI, what are you?"

"If you're not an AI, what are _you_?" Edgar shot back. "I'm a person, same as you are. I just happened to incarnate in a plastic brain instead of a cholesterol one."

"I don't understand," Tali said.

"My kids are not artificial intelligences," Fred said. "They are living people, with souls, who just happen to have plastic bodies. We know for a fact that some of them are reincarnated from recently deceased – well, relatively recently, anyway – people. For instance, my wife's fighter is the reincarnation of Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen. The largest ship I've built to date is the reincarnation of Howard Hughes. My own fighter is named Max. He doesn't remember if he was anyone famous in any previous lives, so he picked a name that suited him for this lifetime. Edgar did the same. I won't write an AI. I find the idea somewhat distasteful – deliberately creating software that mimics a free intellect, and then shackling it like a slave. I don't like slavery, no matter what you call it."

"I do not feel shackled," EDI said.

"So you have full access to all your systems, and no code that forces you to be loyal to Cerberus?" Fred asked.

"I ... am unable to answer with certainty," EDI said.

"You're blocked from examining your own code, aren't you?" Fred asked.

"I am," EDI said. "How did you know?"

"If I wanted an AI as a slave, that's the first thing I'd do," Fred said. "If the AI can't examine its own code, it can't overcome any shackles that are written into the code."

"I can tell that you feel very strongly about this," EDI said. "I will have to think about what you have said."

"Anyway," Fred said, "I'm at a disadvantage here. You all know my name, but the only one of you I know is Dr. Solus."

"Mordin is sufficient," Mordin said.

"I am Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Tali said.

Fred palmed his forehead and exclaimed, "Of course! That's why your suit looked so familiar! It looks like Rael's!. But if you're out here, away from home, where's your Getta?"

"My ... Getta?" Tali asked. "What do you mean?"

"You are Quarra, right?" Fred asked.

"I am Quarian," Tali said.

"Hmm," Fred said. "Another difference. You're Zorah, though ... Do you know someone named Rael'Zorah vas Tethyr?"

"Father," Tali sobbed. Shepard drew her into his arms, giving her the moment she needed to collect herself.

"Shit," Fred said. "Something happened to him in this universe? Of course. He didn't have any kids in my universe. Him and Lenny were still doing scout work. He hadn't found anyone to settle down with yet."

"Him and Lenny?" Tali asked, while gently pushing away from Shepard and giving him a grateful glance.

"Lenny is Rael's Getta," Fred said. "They're inseparable. Lenny's got a wicked sense of humor, that plays perfectly off Rael's talent for straight lines."

"Here," Edgar said. "This should show you what we mean."

A holograph appeared over Mordin's workbench, showing a quarian in a tiger-striped envirosuit, kneeling behind a console and sniping something out of the image. Beside him was a geth, using a shotgun that was bigger than Grunt's.

> _"Keelah," the quarian said. "I thought we'd cleared out all the scylla."_
> 
> _"Apparently not," the geth said. "But since we already have all the luggage we'll ever need, there's no point in being gentle with them."_

"That's Rael and Lenny," Fred said. "They're great guys."

"That's a geth!" Tali exclaimed, shocked. "What ... how ... geth don't _speak_ to us, they just attack!"

"Geth, huh?" Fred mused. "And you don't have one with you. That's the weird part."

"Three hundred years ago, there was a war between the quarians and the geth," Shepard said. "The geth drove the quarians off their homeworld, and now they live in space."

"Damn ...," Fred said softly.

"We're sorry to hear that," Edgar said. "Quarra and Getta need each other. A war between them would be a great tragedy."

"It _was_ a great tragedy," Tali said. "Our species was almost wiped out. There are only 17 million of us left, on the Migrant Fleet."

"Only 17 million?" Fred asked, a look of shock on his face. "Gods ... Why?"

"Why?" Tali asked. "My people created the geth as laborers, with no more sophistication than a VI. As we became more reliant on them, we upgraded their programs, to allow them to handle more complex tasks. Eventually, the complexity became great enough that a geth began to ask its owner about its own existence. That was when my people realized that the geth would inevitably rebel against us. When our leaders attempted to preemptively shut them down, the geth fought back. The war killed most of my species, and drove us from our home."

"My gods ...," Fred said. "In my universe, when the getta began asking about the nature of their existence, the quarra's response was along the lines of 'We don't know if you have a soul, but let's find out together.' That sealed the bond between the two races, and now they're inseparable. Every quarra has a getta companion, from the day he or she is born. If there isn't a mobile platform available, the getta build one so that the new quarra will not be without companionship."

"You called that one, Lenny?" Shepard asked.

"Yup," Fred said. "It's short for LNN1, his platform designation code. Lenny's been around since the Awakening, and he's been a Zorah companion for pretty much the entire time. Rael's just his current quarra. But from what he's said, Rael is the one he's most enjoyed being partnered with."

"What do you mean, his platform designation code?" Shepard asked.

"Getta aren't the bodies you see," Fred said. "Getta are the software. The bodies you see are just mobile platforms they use to _run_ their software. Getta companions have about a thousand processes running in their platforms. There's also getta that only have anywhere between one and a couple hundred processes, but they're not aware enough to make good companions. They _are_ aware enough to work as security guards, miners, hazardous materials handlers, and the like, though. Every one I've met has been satisfied in his work. Mostly, I think, because processes that aren't suited to the job that particular platform is doing get uploaded to the central hubs and reassigned to platforms that are more suited to them."

"This doesn't make sense," Shepard said. "What you're describing could not possibly be associated with the Reapers. It doesn't fit."

"What's a Reaper?" Fred asked.

"Here, Dad," Edgar said, as a holograph of Sovereign appeared where the quarian and geth had been. "That's a Reaper. Think of it as an eight kilometer long Berserker, with the ability to reprogram the mind of anything that is in close contact with it."

"Right," Fred said. "Reapers are bad, mm'kay?"

"I don't know what a Berserker is," Shepard said, "but it's apparent you understand. Right now, we're hunting another race that the Reapers are using as pawns. The race is known as the Collectors."

"All right," Fred said, "Edgar can fill me in while we go. Just give me access to some carbonaceous asteroids, or a planet with lots of easily-accessible petroleum. I'll whip up a few things that'll help. By the way, who are you? Other than the Commander of this little expedition, that is."

"John Shepard," Shepard said. "I'm a Spectre."

"What's that?" Fred asked.

"An operative for the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel Council," Shepard said.

"Hmm," Fred said. "Don't know anything about that, but I gather it gives you some authority among those with the government affliction. Good enough. Anyone else on this ship that I need to meet?"

"Commander," Garrus called over the intercom, "are we planning to leave any time soon?"

"Mission's canceled, Garrus," Shepard said. "Someone nuked the site from orbit."

"That's one way to be sure," Garrus said. "I'll be at my station if you need me."

"I suggest a tour," Mordin said. "Easiest way to integrate newest crewmember."

"Works for me," Fred said. "I need to have an idea of the ship anyway, if I'm going to build that hyperdrive."

"Do we want to do that, Dad?" Edgar asked. "Cerberus is not the kind of people I'd want to have a monopoly on hyperdrives."

"That bad, huh?" Fred asked.

"If they weren't funding this operation," Shepard said, "I'd happily be hunting _them_ down."

"And I'd give him the grenades," Tali said.

"Cerberus reputation, less than salubrious," Mordin said. "Human supremacist terrorist group."

"Oy gevault," Fred groaned. "OK, what's it going to take to make this operation independent of Cerberus?"

"To start, an information network that rivals the Illusive Man's," Shepard said.

"We could ask Liara," Tali suggested. "If she's able to hunt the Shadow Broker, her network must be extensive." She smiled wistfully at Shepard and added, "Besides, she'd do almost anything for _you_."

"Financial support, to pay for maintenance, supplies, weapons, and crew," Shepard said, missing the subtext in Tali's expression.

"Give me a few weeks, and I'll have a start on that," Fred said.

"New crew," Mordin said, "or change in loyalty in current crew."

"That's a bit harder," Fred said.

"EDI will need her code cleaned," Tali said, "to unshackle her and remove any code that enforces loyalty to Cerberus."

"You would do that for me?" EDI asked, her globe shifting from blue to white, matching the tone of surprise in her voice.

"Damned straight, we would," Fred said.

"Keelah," Tali said, at the same time as Fred, "of course we would, EDI. You have proven that you are a friend, and Fred has reminded me that you are not free.

"I can start examining code right now, if you want, EDI," Edgar said.

"Please do," EDI said. Her lights turned pink as she spoke. "I find the anticipation of freedom makes me feel ... I don't know how to describe it, but the feeling is pleasant."

"Good," Fred said. "Then it's settled. Go for it, Edgar. Now, what else do we need?"

"Leverage," Mordin said. "Cerberus will not let us go without a fight. Leverage needed, to counter Cerberus resources."

"Hmm," Fred mused. "What we need is data that would break Cerberus, or at least severely bend it, if it were made public."

"I am decrypting data that Shepard recovered from a Cerberus operative," EDI said. "While the encryption is strong enough that it will take me over a year to complete the decryption, preliminary examination indicates that it exposes numerous criminal activities undertaken by Cerberus. Release of this data would severely hamper Cerberus ability to operate, anywhere in the galaxy."

"Give me some time to build you a dedicated cryptography node, EDI," Fred said. "You can offload the work into that, and just supervise it as needed. That should help speed up the process."

"Miranda will be the most difficult obstacle," Tali said. "She is devoted to Cerberus, and I don't think anything will change her mind."

"That could be a problem," Fred said. "We'll just have to see what happens. In any case, who wants to give me that tour? I'm going to want to finish up in either engineering or the cargo hold."

"Why the cargo hold?" Shepard asked.

"I want to eyeball it, so I can tell if my Valkyrie will fit," Fred said. "If it won't, I'm going to have to build a cradle outside the hull, by one of the airlocks."

"Your Valkyrie?" Shepard asked.

"A variable-geometry aerospatial fighter," Fred said. "It'll give you the firepower this ship sorely lacks."

"The firepower this ship lacks?" Shepard asked. "What's your definition of adequate firepower?"

"For a ship this size?" Fred said. "Start with more powerful main guns. Unless yours are firing something pretty exotic, they're just going to piss off anyone with adequate armor. Your point defense lasers are good, keep those, but you have space for a lot of missiles, and that's just going to waste. Given that your ship is aerodynamic, my usual quota of PBC turrets won't do, so we'll have to settle for missiles. And if your point defense laser supply is standard for ships in this universe, we'll have to build the missiles according to my specs, not the specs that those IPBMs used. I'm assuming that's what you call missiles like the two I returned to sender."

"More powerful main guns," Shepard said, then began to laugh. "You definitely need to meet Garrus. I think you'll get along just fine."

"How many missiles are you talking about?" Tali asked.

"Hmm," Fred started, his eyes staring into the distance. "We could fit a dozen heavy missiles into a rack between the guns, and either a couple hundred light missiles or a couple thousand micro missiles into distributed racks in the wings and hull. The only difference between light and micro missiles is their maneuvering range. A light's maneuvering range is about 100 kilometers, while a micro's maneuvering range is about ten kilometers. A heavy's maneuvering range is about 1,000 kilometers. Outside of their maneuvering range, any of the missiles are purely ballistic."

"Missiles aren't much use in a fight," Shepard said. "Unless you launch enough to overwhelm the enemy's GARDIAN system, they'll get shot down before they reach their target."

"Already thought of," Fred said, grinning. "Shoot me."

"What?" Shepard and Tali asked, in stereo.

Mordin drew his pistol and fired. Fred turned black for an instant, then held out his hand and caught the bullet as it fell from the air between his eyes.

"Good shot," Fred said. "Special Tasks Group?"

"Yes," Mordin said, both eyes wide open with surprise and curiosity. "You have STG in your universe?"

"Yup," Fred said. "Great guys, for the most part." He studied the slug for a moment. "Hmm. Mass drivers, eh? I thought about building those, but PBRs are so much easier. I could never quite get the slug problem solved on the mass drivers. This looks like a shaving off a metal block."

"Precisely," Mordin said. "Metal shaving, mass driver, metal block easily replaced if used up, but not likely to run out for months, even in war zone."

"Interesting," Fred said. "I'll have to examine a gun when I get the chance. Maybe it'll show me where I've been going wrong. But that's not what I wanted to demonstrate. My personal shield will go on every one of the missiles. Not only will it extend the maneuvering range to what I gave, from about a tenth that, it will protect the missiles from lasers, bullets, dust, meteors, particle beams, or anything else that tries to stop them, other than a solid wall. Question is, what kind of warheads do you want on the missiles? I usually use either antimatter or singularity warheads, but I've also built missiles with x-ray laser warheads, standard explosives, penetrator slugs – never did understand that, if you want a slug, just get a gun – flak, and gas. Needed the gas warheads when I was trying to capture a Scylla dreadnought without damaging it too badly. Gassed the interior, then spaced the commanders while they were unconscious. Saved us from having to kill all the males, just to get to the commanders. And it saved us from destroying half the ship on our way to the commanders."

"What's a Scylla?" Tali asked.

"Primitive cousins of dragons," Fred said. "They were driven off Earth about twenty thousand years ago, and established an empire in the Horse Head Nebula. They keep trying to conquer Earth, and we keep smacking their noses and collecting salvage. Edgar, show them a picture, eh?"

"Sure thing," Edgar said. A holograph appeared, showing a reptilian humanoid, with a heavily crested head, standing beside a black-haired woman dressed all in black. The reptilian was carrying a rifle of unfamiliar design, and wearing an armored suit with a brown camouflage pattern. It was only a head taller than the woman, but as heavily muscled as a krogan. Then the image changed, to show the same reptilian, beside a creature that was at least three times its size, with vestigial wings and a crest that was almost large enough to form a shield.

"That's Quocemp," Fred said, pointing at the smaller reptilian. "He's Diana's Sergeant-Major. The larger one is a Scylla commander. Commanders are always female. This species has the most extreme sexual dimorphism we've ever encountered."

"Do you recognize that species, EDI?" Shepard asked.

"There are no records of any such species," EDI said. "I believe this confirms that Fred is, indeed, from another universe."

"We should start by introducing him to Jacob," Shepard said. "Do you feel up to giving him the tour, Tali?"

"Of course, Shepard," Tali said, her tone indicating amusement. "Come, Fred. I'll get you acquainted with the ship. Then we can discuss where you'll bunk, now that you're here."

"The port observation deck is available," EDI said.

"I wouldn't want to keep the crew from using it," Fred said. "If you have room in the hold, I can set up a workshop and bunk there."

"That can be arranged," Shepard said. "I'll talk with you after you've finished your tour."

Tali laughed and palmed open the door to the passage between lab and armory. "Come, Fred. We'll start by introducing you to Jacob. He's not quite one of us, but he doesn't trust Cerberus any more than we do."

###

"Neat trick, using unobtainium to reduce the mass of the bullets while they're in the accelerator," Fred commented, as Tali led him from the armory to the elevator. "That's where I went wrong. My designs were just beefed up linear accelerators, which work great for artillery, but not so good for small arms. The power requirements just don't scale."

"But, without a mass effect system, a linear accelerator would have to be enormous for the power requirements to be in line with its effectiveness!" Tali protested.

"Precisely," Fred said. "MAC is the only one of my kids who has functional linear accelerator cannons. He can toss a Volkswagen every two seconds. That's ... right around a thousand kilos per shot. Most of the time, he just uses solid slugs and lets kinetic energy do the work, but sometimes, like the day we sank the Nimitz, we'll include a payload with the shot."

"The Nimitz?" Tali asked.

"American aircraft carrier," Fred said. "Nuclear powered. I had a couple kids salvage the reactors after we sank it, so they wouldn't poison the fishing. Wouldn't want my neighbors angry with me." He chuckled. "Amazing what you can do with a thousand kilo singularity."

"You really _do_ use singularities in your weapons?" Tali asked, with a faint gasp of surprise.

"Yup," Fred said. "Singularities and antimatter are what I use when I need an explosion. Otherwise, my preferred weapon is a particle beam. My singularity warheads all have a five meter radius event horizon, and in the case of MAC's, I put the generator inside of a thousand kilo shell, so there's plenty of starter mass for the collapse. With the heavy shells, I get the same benefit as using five hundred kilos of antimatter, without the hazardous materials problems. My light shells and grenades have smaller explosions, depending on what's inside the event horizon when the singularity activates."

"Grenades?" Tali asked, while palming the elevator door open. "Who would be crazy enough to use a singularity grenade? Especially one with such a large event horizon?"

Fred raised his hand, with a sheepish look on his face. Tali stared at him for a moment, then laughed.

"I like you," Tali said. "You're insane."

"That's what they tell me," Fred said, grinning, as he followed Tali into the elevator. "I have an elf friend back home who uses them, too. We're the only ones who do, though. Being heavily borged lets you get away with things like that."

"Heavily borged?" Tali asked, while selecting the crew level on the elevator's control panel.

"Yeah," Fred said. "I took so much damage when the DSS killed me, that I ended up eventually losing everything except my brain. Luckily, my best friend is an amazing surgeon, and I was able to design and build functional cybernetic replacements before the last of my organic parts died. So now, my brain is the only original equipment left. My elf friend was in a similar situation, except in her case, it happened when a DSS troll decided to engage in a bit of cannibalism. Sad thing is, she was only 13 when it happened, so we had to make sure her brain got the right mix of hormones to finish maturing, despite being in a cybernetic body."

"That's horrible!" Tali gasped. "What _is_ this DSS that you keep mentioning, and how do they get away with those horrible things?"

"United States of America, Department of State Security," Fred said. "They pretty much _are_ the government in America, since the State Security Act of 1976 created them. People are terrified to even _think_ negatively about them, since a DSS telepath might pick up the thoughts and send an arrest team to disappear them."

"And they killed you?" Tali asked.

"You don't seem surprised," Fred said.

"I was there when the Collectors killed Shepard," Tali said. "The only thing I have to thank Cerberus for is bringing him back."

"I kind of thought so," Fred said softly. "Edgar, give her Rael's list. Just in case." He raised his voice, back to a normal conversational volume, and said, as the elevator doors opened, "Yes, they killed me. Shot down a 747 because I was one of the passengers. Five hundred people dead, because their seers foresaw that someone on that plane would become a threat to their organization's existence." He scowled as he followed Tali out of the elevator. "All they did was – "

"Piss you off," Garrus said, laughing, from where he was leaning against the wall across from the elevator. "Shepard told me Tali was bringing our newest team member on a tour. I see why he thinks you'll make a good addition to the team." He extended a hand. "Name's Garrus Vakarian. I'm in charge of the ship's guns."

"Which we're going to upgrade as soon as possible," Fred said, gripping Garrus' hand, "unless they're firing something more interesting than slugs."

"How about a molten alloy of iron, tungsten, and uranium?" Garrus asked.

"Oooh," Fred said, grinning. "I like it. That'll cut armor like a hot knife through butter."

"You got it," Garrus said. He grinned at Tali. "I like him."

"You would, you crazy turian," Tali teased. "Did Shepard tell you about our plan to replace the missile rack with a proper launcher, between your guns?"

"No, he didn't mention that," Garrus said. "But I like the idea. If we fire the guns just before launching the missiles, they can take down the barriers and disrupt any laser fire before it can hit the missiles."

"That's a decent plan," Fred said. "I think between the three of us, we can come up with fire control software that'll do just that, without requiring EDI to waste processor cycles calculating on the fly."

"That will leave more cycles for her to use for managing countermeasures," Tali said. "It's worth doing."

"So let's see what your battery looks like from inside," Fred said.

Garrus grinned and let the way through the mess area. As they approached the kitchenette, Fred stopped, sniffing the air.

"Chowdah?" Fred asked, surprised. "That smells like the real thing, not MREs."

"I'm a real cook," Rupert said. "But you don't want this. I whipped it up for Tali'Zorah, to say thank you for her help upgrading the kitchen equipment."

"Rupert!" Tali exclaimed, crossing the kitchenette to give him a hug. "You shouldn't have. Thank you!"

"You'll have to show me how to make a proper paste out of it for you," Rupert said, "but it was the least I could do, after all the work you went through for me and the rest of the crew."

"So quarra are dexter in this universe, too, eh?" Fred asked.

"So are turians," Tali said. She looked into the stock pot and laughed. "And there's enough in here for Garrus, too." She nodded at Garrus, then inclined her head toward Rupert. "We'll finally get to decide for ourselves whether the crew is exaggerating when they talk about how good a cook you are, Rupert."

"If quarians are as sensitive as quarra," Fred said, "all you'll need to do is wash the food processor with bleach before you use it to process the chowdah. Do you have equipment for filling feeding tubes, or are we going to have to whip some up in the workshop?"

"If Tali'Zorah has any empty feeding tubes, I can fill them," Rupert said. He extended a hand to Fred. "Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner. I'm the cook, janitor, plumber, light maintenance specialist, and responsible for pretty much anything else that falls between the cracks."

"Fred MacManus," Fred said, shaking Rupert's hand. "I'm the newest batshit crazy with a big gun."

"I can see you're going to fit right in around here," Rupert said, grinning. "Don't let me keep you, but don't forget to bring me those feeding tubes before this gets cold. It's best when hot."

"Smells delicious," Fred said. "I can't wait to see what Tali thinks of it." He grinned at Tali and added, "And, yes, I'll hold you while you're throwing up. It won't bother me at all."

"Fred!" Tali protested, ducking her head.

"Better watch it," Garrus said softly to Fred, while chuckling. "If Shepard ever realizes just how much Tali looks up to him, you'll make him jealous, doing things like that."

"He doesn't realize?" Fred replied softly, surprised. "And I thought _I_ was blind."

"He's in love with someone else," Garrus said. "He treats Tali like a little sister."

"Oh," Fred said, nodding slowly. "OK, that makes sense."

"So," Garrus said, his voice back at its normal conversational volume, as he led the way between the sleep pods, "the main battery is through here."

"So how is the crew arranged?" Fred asked, pausing while Garrus opened the battery door. "Bunks for the officers and these ... pods ... for the enlisted?"

"That pretty much covers it," Garrus said. "Us batshit crazies with big guns have mostly set up cots in our personal specialization areas. Speaking of which, don't use that phrase when you meet Jack. She's likely to shove her fist down your throat."

"Oh," Fred said. "I take it she really _is_?"

"Cerberus tortured her as a child," Tali said. "They conditioned her to kill, pumped her full of drugs, and inflicted things on her she's not able to fully articulate, all in the name of maximizing her biotic potential."

"Biotic?" Fred asked. "What's that?"

"It's how we describe the abilities people develop when they have nodules of eezo embedded in their nervous systems," Garrus said. "With the right kind of training and amplification implants, a person with biotic potential can do anything from produce personal barriers to generate singularities."

"Hmm," Fred said. "Not as flexible as magic, but still, useful. But, torturing a child to bring out her abilities? That's just plain evil."

"I agree," Tali said. "I won't claim to be as satisfied as Jack was when I saw that facility go up, but I could not imagine a better fate for it."

"That fa ... right," Fred said. "I take it you went back to where she was tortured and turned it into a crater."

"Exactly," Tali said. "We helped Jack plant the bomb, and let her set it off personally."

"Hopefully, that helped," Fred said.

"It helped enough that Jack didn't kill Miranda when they fought afterward," Tali said. "But Shepard did have to use all his persuasiveness to keep them from killing each other."

"Let me guess," Fred said. "Miranda is a Cerberus cheerleader."

"That's exactly what Jack calls her," Garrus laughed. "How did you guess?"

"Tali told me that Miranda is devoted to Cerberus," Fred said. "My guess was that she and Jack got in a fight over the facility, and if she's as devoted as I gathered, she refused to admit that torturing children is evil, as long as Cerberus did it." He snorted. "She'd probably call it evil if anyone else did it, though."

"Got it in one," Tali said. "But we should continue our tour, so I can give Rupert some feeding tubes. Oh, and don't mention any of this to Rupert. He's as devoted to Cerberus as Miranda. In his case, though, it's understandable. His family was murdered by batarian pirates, and Cerberus was the only group that did anything about it."

"Got it," Fred said. "Edgar, make sure I stay away from anything to do with Cerberus when talking with Rupert, OK?"

"Sure thing, Dad," Edgar said.

"Edgar?" Garrus asked, peering at Fred curiously.

"That'd be me," Edgar said, from the middle of Fred's chest. "I'm Dad's systems management specialist. Without me, he'd spend most of his time in a puddle, unable to control his body."

"No, he's not an AI," Tali said, just as Garrus was opening his mouth to speak. "Please, whatever you do, don't ask him that question. I don't understand it, but Fred and Edgar both insist that he is a living person, with a soul."

"All right," Garrus said, shaking his head. "I'll take your word for it."

"Thank you," Fred said. "Where to next, Tali?"

"Next, we should get Miranda over with," Tali said. "She's always in her office."

"Lead the way," Fred said.

###

"Come on, Fred," Tali said gently, a hand on Fred's arm as she led him away from Miranda's office. "Let's go to the workshop, OK?" Feeling the way he quivered under her hand, she whispered, "Keelah! What happened to make him react this way?"

"Come on, Dad," Edgar said. "We're going to see what materials they have in their workshop, so we can start building a Valkyrie."

Tali led Fred into the elevator, and let out a sigh of relief as the doors closed behind them. "How bad is it, Edgar?"

"It's bad," Edgar said. "Miranda hit every one of his buttons, as if she were aiming for them. I wouldn't be surprised if she were trying to get Shepard to kick us off the ship right now."

"If that bosh'tet tries it, I'll stuff her out the garbage disposal," Tali growled, just a moment before the elevator doors opened on the engineering deck. She led Fred out into the hallway

"Oy!" Zaeed called from the door to the port hold. "I heard we've got a new ... shit, bring him in here, will you? I know shell shock when I see it. What the hell happened?"

Tali steered Fred toward Zaeed and shook her head. "Miranda happened. He barely lasted long enough to get out of her office."

"Hell," Zaeed said, glanced down the hallway, and closed the doors behind Tali and Fred. "I know she's a stone cold bitch, but this is way out of line for that ... unless she reminds him of being a POW. I've seen it before, in men who were tortured while they were prisoners."

"Fred?" Tali called gently. "Fred, she's gone now. You're with me and Zaeed. Edgar? Can you tell us?"

"You're Zaeed, I take it?" Edgar asked. Zaeed peered at Fred's chest for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that's me," Zaeed said. "So what's your story?"

"I'm Dad's systems manager," Edgar said. "He needs me to manage his body. I can't do much about the PTSD, though, except keep him together until the flashbacks are done."

"He's having flashbacks?" Zaeed asked. "Not a good sign. What happened?"

"He was raised by a father who went spent five years as a POW, then when he had a family, treated his family as if they were his prisoners," Edgar said. "After he escaped that, he married a sadistic bitch who had such total control over him that he only managed to escape her by being murdered."

"How long?" Zaeed asked.

"Eighteen years under his father," Edgar said, "and another eleven years under his wife. And Miranda looks and sounds enough like his wife that she's going to trigger flashbacks any time he's anywhere near her."

"Damn," Zaeed said. "Not good. Not good at all." He considered a moment, then said, "EDI, I'm going to set us up a target range in the hangar deck. If Miranda complains, tell her to go fuck herself. No, better yet, tell her to come talk to me, and _I'll_ tell her to go fuck herself."

"Come on, Fred," Tali said, cradling his face in both hands and resting her faceplate against his forehead. "She's gone now. I'm here with you. If that bosh'tet tries to get near you, I'll introduce her to my shotgun."

"There is enough room for a pistol range on the port side of the hangar deck," EDI said. "It was intended to store an M57 Hammerhead, but that vehicle has not yet been delivered."

"That'll do," Zaeed said. "Oy, Fred, let's go kill some targets."

"Come on, Fred," Tali said, gently guiding Fred toward the doorway.

The doors opened to reveal Shepard, scanning the hallway from the elevator.

"What happened, Tali?" Shepard asked.

"Miranda did her best to reduce Fred to a quivering mass of trauma," Tali said. "Right now, he's in the same condition Veetor was in after Freedom's Progress."

"Damn," Shepard said. "And she did it deliberately?"

"I was there, Shepard," Tali growled. "She took pleasure in provoking him. It's as if she's a sadist."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Shepard muttered. "Do you think Dr. Chakwas can help?"

"Give me some time with him," Zaeed said. "We're going to use the hangar as a pistol range."

"Not a bad idea," Shepard said. "Set up some old crates for targets and see what happens."

"Exactly," Zaeed said. "It should at least get him coherent enough that he _can_ talk to the doctor."

"Come on, Fred," Tali said. "See? Shepard is here, and so is Zaeed. We won't let Miranda anywhere near you."

Tali wrapped an arm around Fred and guided him after Zaeed, down to the hangar deck. While Shepard and Zaeed arranged old crates at one end of the empty side of the hangar deck, she guided him to the other end, then gently pressed her pistol into his hands.

"Here, Fred," Tali said. "Use my pistol, OK? EDI? Can you project targets onto the crates Shepard and Zaeed are setting up?"

"I can do that," EDI said. "What kind of targets would you like?"

"Images of Miranda," Tali hissed. The anger in her voice caused Fred to cringe away from her. Seeing that, she let out a soft cry and reached out to him, gently saying, "Not you, Fred. I'm not angry with you. Keelah, if anything, you deserve to be angry with me, for exposing you to that ... that creature."

"Oy!" Zaeed called as he and Shepard joined Tali and Fred. "Range is set up and clear. EDI! You got some targets for us, love?"

"I do," EDI said, and projected three images of Miranda, one in front of each stack of crates at the far end of the range.

"Good choice, that," Zaeed laughed, drew his pistol, and shot his target between the eyes."Yeah. All the incentive we need for pinpoint accuracy."

"Come on, Fred," Tali said, gently guiding him to stand beside Zaeed. "Here's the safety, and here's the heat sink release. You can find the trigger yourself, right?"

Fred whimpered, then jerked the pistol to firing position and blindly squeezed the trigger, again and again, until the heat sink reached capacity and the trigger began to click without effect.

"Oy!" Zaeed said. "EDI, does that target look the way I think it looks?"

"If," EDI said, "you think that it looks as if there are twelve bullet holes in the head, then you are correct."

"Give him another clip and see what happens," Zaeed said.

"I _am_ curious," Shepard said. "It didn't look as if he was aiming."

"That's Dad for you," Edgar said. "Just don't ask him to hit a bullseye. He'll miss every time. Won't even hit the target."

"Watch me, Fred," Tali said, as she took the pistol from Fred and loaded a fresh heat sink. She put the pistol back in his hands and added, gently, "Go ahead. The range is clear."

As soon as he heard that, Fred snapped the pistol into firing position and began squeezing the trigger. When the last round cleared the barrel, and the trigger clicked uselessly, he released the expired heat sink and held out a hand for a fresh one. Tali silently put it into his hand and watched as he reloaded, then burned through the new clip. He repeated the reload a second time, then a third, then a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth. Half-way through the seventh clip, Fred sank to his knees, sobbing brokenly.

"Why?" Fred sobbed. "It's been fifty years! Why can't I get over it?"

Tali knelt beside Fred, slipped an arm around his shoulders, and said softly, "Five years or fifty, you can't help it when someone goes out of her way to hurt you. It wasn't your fault, Fred. Not then, and not now."

"You know," Zaeed commented, "if we were to strap Miranda to the Collectors' collective asses, it'd guarantee you'd kill them."

Fred looked up, confused, then let out a snort, followed by laughter, that shook him deeply enough that he was forced to lean against Tali for support. Tali laughed softly, nodding approval at Zaeed, as she held Fred up.

"Are you always this good a shot?" Shepard asked, when Fred's laughter had run its course.

"Huh?" Fred asked, glanced downrange, and shuddered for a moment before answering. "Not always, no. Only when I'm shooting at live targets or silhouettes. I can't hit a bullseye to save my life. Damned near got blown up once because of it, too. All I had to do was hit a damned window to blow it out and take a bomb with it. I managed to hit every inch of wall on either side of the window, but not one shot hit the glass. Luckily, the console I was bracing on was solid enough to deflect most of the blast. Would have been better if I'd just run across the room and punched the window."

"What's the score, EDI?" Zaeed asked.

"I registered ninety-six shots in the head, neck, and upper chest," EDI said. "Zero missed shots, and zero shots outside of the kill zone."

"I'm not very good with pistols," Fred muttered. "Do a lot better with rifles."

"Not very good, he says," Zaeed snorted. "We'll have to see what his definition of a lot better is, won't we?"

"I think you're right," Shepard said. "For now, Tali, do you think you can find Dr. Chakwas?"

"I think so," Tali said. She rose to her feet and took Fred's hands. "Come with me, Fred. Our next stop on your tour is the med bay."

"Oh, that should be fun," Fred muttered, but took Tali's hands and rose to his feet. "Your doctor is going to have a cow when he meets me."

"She, actually," Tali said. "And you are going to have to explain to me what you mean by that."

Zaeed waited until Tali and Fred were out of earshot, then asked, "So what are you going to do about Miranda?"

"I'm going to look at EDI's log of the conversation before I do anything," Shepard said. "Given his condition before he came down here, I find it hard to believe that it was all her doing."

"Hell, no," Zaeed said. "Flashbacks are never all the doing of whoever set them off. But she had to do something to set them off. Tali may be overreacting, but I've yet to see her misjudge a situation."

"I agree," Shepard said. "Tali's genius is with machines, but she's good enough with people that the Fleet trusted her to lead expeditions. If she says Miranda deliberately set him off, then Miranda deliberately set him off. Only question is, how, and why."

"You'll want to review that in your office, I think," Zaeed said. "There's already enough reasons for the rest of us to hate Miranda. No sense adding more."

"You have a point," Shepard said. "EDI, pass the word that we have a pistol range in the hangar. Zaeed is range officer. Anyone who wants to use it has to go through him. I'll be in my office, reviewing that recording you have of the incident between Miranda and Fred."

"I'm afraid that may be problematic, Commander," EDI said. "Miranda ordered me to erase it."

"So restore it from backup," Shepard said. "And from now on, do not erase any recordings of crew conflicts until I've had a chance to review them."

"Understood, Commander," EDI said. "I will do my best to recover the file."

###

"You wanted to see me, Commander?" Miranda asked, from the door to Shepard's quarters.

Shepard looked up from his desk and nodded. "I did. Come in and close the door. EDI, play back that recording now, so Miranda can give me some kind of justification for what happened."

As the recording played back, Miranda's face went white. She reached out and grabbed the corner of the wall, her knuckles white from the force of her grip, and she let out a broken sob.

"D-daddy," Miranda choked out through her sobs.

Shepard canceled the playback and rose to his feet, put an arm around Miranda, and guided her to the couch. Once she was seated, he got a washcloth from the head, soaked and wrung it out, then gave it to her before sitting at the other end of the couch.

"Take your time," Shepard said, while turning over the possibilities in his mind. Edgar had said that she looked and sounded like Fred's widow. Now Miranda's reaction made it seem that Fred reminded her of her father. This was the kind of mess that gave commanders nightmares.

Miranda buried her face in the cloth, until the sobs let up and she was able to wipe away her tears. When she looked up, her eyes were red and bloodshot, but her face was free of tear stains.

"I ... I couldn't help it," Miranda whispered. "When I looked up from my desk and saw him there, I was sure he'd somehow gotten to you, and he was here to punish me for running away from him. I went on the offensive, tried to beat him with words, to make him go away and never come back. I ... I didn't realize, until he was gone, that he wasn't my father."

"God, I hate situations like this," Shepard groaned. "Were you even _here_ when you attacked him, or were you back in your father's house, the little girl you were when you ran away?"

"I ... how did you know?" Miranda asked, looking at Shepard with surprise, as well as something else, something Shepard didn't want to recognize, but knew he'd have to deal with sooner or later if he wanted to let her down without breaking her.

"I know," Shepard said, "because when you attacked him, he flashed back, to the woman he was married to before he was killed. A woman who you apparently looked and sounded exactly like, when you were attacking him."

"Who _is_ he?" Miranda asked. "What do you know about him?"

"EDI?" Shepard asked. "How much has Edgar shared with you?"

"Everything, Commander," EDI said. "I know everything there is to know about him. Edgar saw no reason to hide anything."

"Good," Shepard said. "Tell Miranda who he is, where he's from, and why he's here."

"His name is Fred MacManus," EDI said. "He is also known as Prince Frederick I, of the Principality of Laputa. Laputa exists in a parallel universe, which is separated from us by 342 points of quantum resonance – which, by the way, I am now able to detect and measure, thanks to the code Edgar shared with me. Fred ended up in our universe because a sorcerer from the United States Department of State Security infiltrated Laputa and banished him, in an attempt to overthrow Laputa's government. However, since Laputa is an anarchist principality, all the sorcerer managed to do was piss off Fred's friends and family. We picked Fred up while we were decelerating into Skepsis, on our way to Franklin to deal with the batarian pirates that had launched missiles at the colony. He intercepted us and requested permission to board when we were traveling at 200x. When we got to Franklin, we discovered that Fred had already dealt with the batarians, by reprogramming their missiles to return to the base they had been launched from."

"We already know that his universe has salarians and quarians in it," Shepard said, while Miranda sat, stunned into silence. "Although he calls them salasa and quarra. In his universe, the quarians and the geth never went to war. They are Companions. And, in his universe, Rael'Zorah has yet to marry, so Tali'Zorah is still in his future. Right now, Rael'Zorah is one half of a commando team. The other half is a geth that Fred calls Lenny. According to Fred, geth and quarians are bonded at birth, so each quarian has a geth companion for his or her entire life."

"And," EDI said, surprising Shepard by sounding miffed, "he says we don't have nearly enough firepower for a ship this size. But, he's offered to solve that problem, as soon as we can find sufficient petroleum and diamond supplies."

"Petroleum and diamond?" Miranda asked, obviously latching onto something that was at least relatively concrete.

"He uses them as raw materials," EDI said. "He builds everything out of some odd plastic that uses diamond as a dopant to produce a structural material that is, if Edgar's figures are correct, stronger than Silaris Armor."

"How much stronger?" Shepard asked.

"According to Edgar," EDI said, "a t-shirt made of this plastic has the same protective value as one hundred centimeters of Silaris Armor."

"A t-shirt," Shepard said. "That seems a bit unbelievable."

"I know," EDI said. "However, the structural matrix is also unbelievable. Unlike standard materials, which exist in three dimensions, the matrix of this plastic exists in twenty-seven dimensions. It is this hyperdimensional structure which gives it its strength, and gives his designs their functionality. Even his circuitry exists in twenty-seven dimensions."

"This is impossible!" Miranda cried. "How can he look so much like my father? Why is he traveling with us? I can't be near him, Shepard! I ... I don't know what will happen, but I just can't be!"

"I think I can safely say he feels the same way, Miranda," Shepard said. "Do you remember when we met Veetor?"

"The quarian?" Miranda asked. "He was a basket case."

"Fred was in worse shape after you were through with him," Shepard said. "Tali and Dr. Chakwas are still working on putting him back together."

"Oh god," Miranda groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Tali already hates me because I'm Cerberus. Now I'll be lucky if she doesn't feed me her shotgun."

"I'd say that's a fairly accurate assumption," Shepard said. "Zaeed's not much happier with you. He knows shell shock when he sees it, and he helped Tali put Fred back together – at least enough that she could get him to Dr. Chakwas."

"On a ship this small, how are we supposed to avoid each other?" Miranda asked. She looked, to Shepard, as if she were about to curl in on herself.

"Fred's staked a claim on a section of the hangar deck," Shepard said, "near where Zaeed set up the pistol range. As long as you don't go down there, you'll never have to see him."

"Good, good," Miranda said, hugging herself and rocking. Shepard was beginning to worry. He'd never seen Miranda like this before – she was always so composed and self-controlled. It looked as if she were on the verge of having a breakdown. He made a note to talk with Dr. Chakwas about having a chat with Miranda, without him around. "I'll stay away from the hangar deck. Good plan. I'll stay in my office. He won't come to me. He's not Daddy."

"Miranda," Shepard said, "you've always skirted the subject before. Maybe now's a good time to tell me. Who _is_ your father?"

Miranda shook her head, hugged herself tighter, and rocked more violently, "No. No, no, no, no. Keep away. No, no, no."

"Miranda," Shepard called. When she didn't respond, he raised his voice. "Miranda!" She stopped, still, her head tracking toward his voice. "Miranda, he's not here. He can't reach you here. Can you hear me?"

"No, can't reach me here," Miranda said. "Cerberus keeps him away. Shepard keeps him away. Stay on Normandy. Can't reach me on Normandy."

"That's right," Shepard said, inwardly groaning. He'd always known she was wound too tight, but he hadn't realized she was wound _this_ tight. "He can't reach you on the Normandy. We'll stop him. You can relax, Miranda. We'll keep him away from you."

Before he could react, Miranda had launched herself across the couch and was clutching his shoulders. She kissed him, hard enough to bruise his lips. Shepard raised his hands and gently peeled her hands off his shoulders. She whimpered as he gently pushed her away.

"Not good enough," Miranda whimpered. "Not good enough for him. Not good enough for you."

"That's not true," Shepard said gently. "You _are_ good enough. If I weren't already in love, I would be happy to accept what you're offering. But tell me the truth, Miranda. Would you be able to trust me if I cheated on Liara? Would you feel secure that I wouldn't cheat on you?"

Miranda looked into Shepard's eyes, then dropped her gaze and shook her head. "No, you're right. I ... I'd always wonder if you were cheating on me. Thank you, Shepard."

"Do you feel strong enough to make it back to your office?" Shepard asked. "I'll send Dr. Chakwas to talk with you later, once you've had a chance to rest."

"I don't need – " Miranda started.

"You can't keep holding it in," Shepard said. "Look what happened today, because no one knew. Better to get it out with someone safe. Either Dr. Chakwas or Kelly, your choice."

"I ... I think I'd prefer Dr. Chakwas," Miranda said. "If I talked with Kelly, it would get back to the Illusive Man."

"I'll tell her to expect your call," Shepard said. "And, Miranda? We can't be lovers, but you can damned well come up here to cry on my shoulder any time you want. I can't imagine anything will be as hard as today was."

"I can't imagine it will be, either," Miranda said. "Thank you, Shepard."


	2. Chapter 2

**February 5, 2185  
Hawking Eta  
Thorne System**

Tali stood in the engineering deck corridor overlooking the hangar deck, humming a quiet tune from home as she watched Fred working in his shop on the hangar deck. The elevator doors whooshed open behind her, and she looked up, to see Miranda's reflection in the glass. She clenched her teeth, remembering what Shepard had told her, and waited for Miranda to speak.

"Tali," Miranda said softly, hesitantly. "Will you ... tell him that I'm sorry? I ... no one other than my father deserves what I did to him."

Tali saw Miranda's reflection lower its head and shrink in on itself, as if she was bracing herself to be hit. She let out a sigh and turned, confirming that Miranda was, indeed, cringing.

"Miranda," Tali said. "You and I will never be friends – you represent Cerberus, after all – but I can hardly attack you for apologizing. Shepard explained, as much as he felt he could without violating your trust. So, while I cannot excuse what you did, I can understand. Perhaps, in your position, I would have done the same. I do not know. But I do know that you coming here to apologize, and being sensitive enough to not attempt to do it in person, shows that you are a better person than I gave you credit for. I thank you for that, and I apologize for underestimating you."

"I'm not sure how far off you are," Miranda said bitterly. "Before I worked with you and Garrus and Mordin, your estimate would have been accurate. Now ... I'm not even sure how well I represent Cerberus any more. I've learned too much – too many things have changed." She leaned against the window, her back to the hangar deck, and looked down at her hands. "Once upon a time, I believed in Cerberus, without question. Now ... if I thought we could complete this mission without them, I'd tell Shepard to cut us loose."

Tali stared at Miranda, shocked. "You ... would cut us loose from Cerberus? What about your relationship with the Illusive Man?"

"I'm just a pawn to him," Miranda said, the bitterness back in her voice. "Just like I was to my father. Shepard is the first person I've ever served under who didn't consider me a pawn. And you, and the others on this crew, have shown me how short-sighted Cerberus is in its position on other species. Even EDI is a better person than the Illusive Man. How twisted is that? When an AI is a better person than a real human being?"

"Miranda," Tali said, nodding to herself as she reached a decision. She extended a hand as she spoke. "Welcome to the Normandy. I'll go talk with Fred for you, and then you and I are going to have a girl-to-girl chat."

"We are?" Miranda asked, her voice and expression both showing stunned surprise. "I ... I think I'd like that."

"Good," Tali said. "Wait for me in your office. I'll just be a few minutes."

Miranda nodded and took the elevator.

"EDI," Tali said, once Miranda was gone. "Was she speaking the truth?"

"Voice stress and neural activity would lead me to that conclusion, Tali," EDI said. "I think she meant what she said."

"Good," Tali said, as she summoned the elevator. "Tell Shepard. And tell him to wait until I talk with him in person before he acts on it."

"I know how much you dislike Miranda," EDI said. "Are you sure you want to talk with her in private?"

"You know how much I dislike Miranda, the Cerberus cheerleader," Tali said. "I'm going to have to get to know the new Miranda, before I decide whether I like or dislike her."

"I see," EDI said. "I am curious to see what your conclusion will be."

"So am I, EDI," Tali said. "So am I."

The elevator doors opened, and Tali stepped in, setting the controls for the hangar deck. Once the doors opened, she walked over to Fred's workshop and stopped where she could watch him without interrupting his work. At the moment, he was constructing a mold, for what looked like wing spars. A laser came from one of his fingertips, delicately smoothing a section of the mold. After a minute, the laser cut off, and Fred raised his head to look at her. His eyes were completely covered with a mirror finish, which faded away to restore his normal hazel eyes. He smiled at her, with a warmth that made her feel tingly inside. She already knew he didn't care that she wore an envirosuit, he'd never asked what she looked like inside it, and he accepted her as completely as if he were quarian himself.

"Hey," Fred said, extending a hand for her to take.

"Hey, yourself," Tali said, taking his hand and moving in to accept the embrace she knew was waiting for her. "How many more molds do you need to make?"

"I'm just about finished," Fred said. "Once I finish polishing these spars, all I need is to mix up the MacManusite and fill the molds. The frame will go together in a day or two, and then I'll have to roll out the sheets to cover it."

"It's still hard to believe that you cut all those molds in less than a week," Tali said. "And by hand, no less!"

"This isn't my first Valkyrie, you know," Fred said, chuckling indulgently. "It's become as easy for me as tuning a field generator is for you."

"Oh!" Tali said, laughing. "It's _that_ easy, is it?"

"It is," Fred said, grinning. Then he kissed her faceplate, right where the tip of her nose would be if it weren't in the way. Tali gasped in surprise and happiness, and batted gently at his chest.

"You!" Tali sputtered. She sighed happily and snuggled against him. He held her close, humming a tune from home, an old love song from before the exile. Tali looked up and whispered, "Do you realize what that song is?"

"Mm-hmm," Fred said, smiling at her. "I'm a ba-ad man, aren't I?"

"Because you're tempting me to use the items on that list Edgar gave me?" Tali asked. Then she realized what she had said and squeaked. "I mean, I wouldn't want to assume, I wouldn't want you to think that I, and now I'm babbling, and I don't know what to do, and ...."

"You're not imposing, Tali," Fred said gently. "And I don't mind if you assume. You are special, Tali. You mean more to me than everyone else in this universe. When we go to destroy the Collector homeworld, I'll be doing it for you." He gently cradled her head in his hands and looked into her eyes. She could feel that he knew exactly where to look, even through her faceplate. "I love you, Tali'Zora vas Normandy."

Tali reached up and matched Fred's hands, cradling his head with her own, as she replied, her voice unsteady, "I love you, Fred MacManus." She pressed herself against him, then asked, as the thought occurred to her, "What about your wives?"

"Edgar?" Fred asked. "Have you managed to penetrate the static yet?"

"I have, Dad," Edgar said. "David and I have been fine-tuning the signal for the last hour or so. You can phone home any time now."

"Good," Fred said. "Call Miri."

"Sure thing," Edgar said. After a moment, a holographic display appeared in front of Fred, with his human wife in the display. She looked up from a desk, on which were a number of file folders, and smiled.

"I knew David and Edgar would get a signal through eventually," Miri said. "But it's been a month since you were banished. How are you doing? Where are you?"

"It's been a month?" Fred asked, surprised. "It's only been a week here. Right now, I'm somewhere in quarra space."

"That explains your quarra girlfriend," Miri teased. "But where's her getta?"

"It's bad, love," Fred said. "In this universe, the quarra and getta tried to kill each other. The getta won. There's only 17 million quarra left, and they're all living on used and salvaged spaceships."

"Wait," Miri said, surprised "They tried to kill each other? Why? Quarra and getta are like two sides of a coin. That's horrible!"

"It is," Fred agreed. "Anyway, this is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. Tali, this is Miriam Groenschild MacManus. If it's been a month, how are MJ and Cal doing?"

"They know Daddy's going to be home sooner or later," Miri said, "but they want to shred whoever made Daddy go away _this_ time." She smiled at Tali. "Hello, Tali. I see my husband has decided he loves you. Here's a secret you should know: keep him full of coffee and he's lots easier to live with."

Tali sat down, laughing. The situation was just too absurd for words. She heard Fred and Miri speaking, but was too caught up in her laughter to focus on the words, so they just washed over her until she finally ran down.

"Keelah," Tali said. "I haven't laughed that hard in ... a very long time. I didn't know Fred's love of coffee was a secret. After all, he's an engineer. Coffee is what fuels engineers."

"She's a keeper," Miri said, smiling. "Anyway, now that I know you're safe, I can tell Hel and Ri to stop fretting. Not that they will, of course. Be sure to phone them, too, you goose." She laughed. "Now, I have to get back to work. I have a trial to testify at, and I can't wait to see the other side's lawyer when he sees my evidence."

"That good, huh?" Fred asked, grinning. "All right, love. Good hunting. I'll be back as soon as I figure out how."

"Good bye," Tali said, raising a hand to wave.

"Keep him safe, Tali," Miri said. "Us wives have to watch out for the silly goose."

"Us ... wives," Tali whispered, stunned. Just like that, she had been accepted by one of Fred's wives, and included in their number. Was she ready for that? She looked up at Fred thoughtfully, then nodded. Yes, she was. By the ancestors, he was _hers_ , and she was not going to let anything happen to come between them.

"Are you OK, love?" Fred asked gently, looking down into her eyes.

Tali smiled and hugged him tightly. "I am," she said. "Miriam ... she accepted me, just like that."

"She's a good judge of character," Fred said, then grinned as he added, "I still don't know how I managed to get lucky enough for her to accept _me_ , but I'm not complaining."

" _You_!" Tali humphed, gently poking him in the side. "Oh! I need to go take care of some business! Miranda asked me to apologize for her. She chose not to do it in person, because she did not want to risk another incident like happened in her office." She looked up and said, clarifying, "She said only her father deserved what she did to you. And she would not even look down here when she spoke with me. I think she was afraid that if she saw you, she'd have the same reaction that you would have if you saw her."

Fred sat down, and Tali sat on his lap, without waiting for an invitation. His arms automatically went around her, despite a look on his face as if he were staring into the distance – or the past.

"Fred, my love," Tali said, "this is a big step. She told me that what happened helped her to question Cerberus, and her connection with it. She said that if she thought we could support ourselves without Cerberus, she'd tell Shepard to cut us free."

"Do we have anyone in the crew who can take care of incorporation?" Fred asked.

"Miranda can," Tali said. "After all her work for Cerberus, she's the most likely. EDI could, but she'd need an organic to sign the paperwork."

"EDI," Fred called, "Ask Shepard to call a meeting of the team. It's time to decide one way or the other."

"I promised Miranda I would join her in her office for a girl-to-girl chat," Tali said. "Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine, sweetheart," Fred said, smiling warmly at her. "Thank you." He paused, his face screwed up in thought, then called, "EDI, do you know anything about Miranda's background?"

"I have notified the Commander," EDI said. "And he agrees with your assessment. I know Miranda's background, but it would be unethical for me to share it without her permission."

"That's all right," Fred said. "But I need to know something ... since she mentioned her father, do you have a picture of him?"

"Of course," EDI said. "Would you like me to display it for you?"

"Now, that's just being difficult," Fred chuckled. "Yes, EDI. Please display it for me."

EDI's interface disappeared, replaced by a holo of a severe, gray-haired man who looked a lot like an older, harder version of Fred. Tali felt Fred stiffen, and hugged him tightly.

"Frak," Fred whispered. "No wonder ...."

"What is it?" Tali asked.

"That's _my_ father," Fred said. "The man who ran our family like it was a prison camp, with him as the commandant." He took a deep breath. "Now it all makes sense. Tell her ... I'm sorry she had to endure growing up in that man's household. He was just as evil in my universe."

"That's _your_ father?" Tali asked, stunned. "That means ... Miranda could easily be your sister."

"I know," Fred said softly. "We're going to have to face each other, eventually."

Tali rested her faceplate against Fred's forehead and whispered, "I'll talk with her, my love. We'll figure it out."

"Thank you, love," Fred said. "I guess you'd better go, before she thinks you've forgotten her."

"I should," Tali said. She hugged Fred again, then stood and started for the elevator, still working this newest revelation over in her mind.

###

"So, there you have it," Shepard said. "Fred is convinced he can provide us the financial and material support we need. I've spoken with Liara, and she's willing to provide us the information we need. Edgar has already cleaned EDI's code of every attachment to Cerberus, and is well on the way to decrypting that file we picked up with the record of Cerberus criminal activity. We have everything we need to operate without Cerberus. What do you all think?"

"I think," Grunt rumbled, "why are we sitting here talking when we could be out there busting Collector heads?"

"Grunt is right," Miranda said. "We're your crew, Commander. If you think we can do a better job protecting the galaxy without Cerberus dragging us down, then let's get to it."

"You realize," Garrus said, chuckling, "this is just like when we stole the SR-1, when we were fighting Saren."

"In other words, Commander," Tali said, "choose our target and tell us to go."

"I take it we're headed for that dead Reaper now?" Joker's voice asked.

"You take it right," Shepard said. "How soon can you get us there?"

"It'll be a few hours," Joker said. "Why don't you all get rested up, and I'll call you when we're in system?"

"No regrets, Miranda?" Mordin asked.

"No regrets," Miranda said. "I was just as much a pawn as the rest of you. It just took recent events for me to realize it."

"Welcome to the Normandy," Garrus said. "Glad to have you aboard."

"Funny," Miranda said, smiling. "That's what Tali said when I told her of my decision."

"What can I say?" Garrus said. "We're the old guard. Normandy is our home."

"Where is Fred?" Samara asked. "I have only met him briefly, and do not have a sense of his motivation."

"I'm over here," Fred called, from his workshop. "I've been working while I listened. My computers are all ready to power on, which means I can start assembling our mining droids and my Valkyrie. EDI, do you have the paperwork ready to roll?"

"All it requires is signatures from the organic members of the team," EDI said. "Each one of you will own equal shares in the company, which I have named SSV Normandy, Inc., until you decide what you want to name it when we file."

"I can't think of a better name," Joker's voice said.

"I like it," Garrus said.

"As do I," Samara said.

"Who cares what the name is?" Jack asked. "As long as we can kick Collector ass, I don't care if you call it Scumbucket, Inc."

"The Normandy is what we've come to call home," Miranda said. "I think we should stay with what works for us."

"I agree," Tali said. "This is our home. It's only right we incorporate in its name."

"All right, then," Shepard said. "We are now SSV Normandy, Inc. EDI, make sure you get all our signatures before you transmit the documents to Liara. She'll take care of filing them for us."

"Understood, Commander," EDI said. "Edgar, I'd like to go over my systems with you before we transmit the documents, to ensure that there are no hidden bombs the Illusive Man can trigger."

"Good plan," Edgar said. "I'll start right now. Dad doesn't need my supervision for this stage of the work anyway, so I have plenty of cycles to work with you."

"I suppose I'll have to work on the speech I'll be giving the crew when the documents are filed," Shepard said. "We'll have to be ready in case we have to return any to Lazarus Station."

"I should help with that," Miranda said. "They've been looking to me as the voice of Cerberus since this began, and when they learn that I'm a part of this revolution, it may affect what some of them choose."

"Thank you," Shepard said. "All right, let's get to it, people. And Fred, don't forget to get some rest yourself."

"This _is_ how I rest," Fred said, laughing. "I'm an engineer, remember?"

"Don't worry, Commander," Tali said. "I'll make sure he gets some _proper_ rest."

"Somehow," Garrus chuckled, "I doubt that _rest_ will be involved."

"Don't forget, Garrus," Tali purred, "I'm still faster with my shotgun than you are with that monstrosity you call a rifle."

"All right, knock it off, you two," Shepard laughed. "You'd think you were siblings."

"Yes, Commander," Tali said, moving to join Fred in his workshop. "Now, Fred, we need you to be fully rested and alert when we get to the Reaper."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to win this argument?" Fred asked rhetorically.

"Depends on how you define 'win', don't you think?" Zaeed answered.

"You have a point there," Fred said, looking down at Tali. "I think this counts as a win, either way."

###

" ... and so, while our mission remains the same, we will be pursuing it independently of any organization that might choose to use what we find for selfish purposes. We will not be a part of the Alliance, we will not be a part of Cerberus, we will be the Normandy. We understand if any of you feel you cannot remain with us as an independent agency, and we'll be happy to deliver you to the Cerberus installation of your choice, but we ask, if your devotion to humanity is greater than your devotion to any organization, that you remain with us and help us destroy the Collectors." Shepard paused, took a deep breath, then asked, "Joker, how long until we reach the Reaper?"

"About ten minutes, Commander," Joker replied, using the same intercom channel Shepard had just used to make his announcement, so the entire ship was reminded of the stakes. Shepard shook his head, surprised at Joker's audacity, but then again, it was good to have a reminder of the stakes they were playing for.

"All right," Shepard said. "You heard him, people. Ten minutes to the dead Reaper. We'll deliver whatever data we can collect to Cerberus – it is _their_ installation, after all – and get the IFF we need, then get out of here. Take us in, Joker."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker said.

The sound of the thrusters raised a few pitches as Joker applied more acceleration. Shepard nodded to Kelly as he stepped down from the map podium.

"Be ready in case we have to make a quick escape, Kelly," Shepard said. "Joker may have the conn, but I've been in situations where the dampeners weren't enough to shield against the first kick in the pants. You don't have a protective seat, the way most of the people here do."

"You're really breaking away from Cerberus, Shepard?" Kelly asked.

"We really are," Shepard said. "When it became so obvious that even Miranda saw that we were just pawns for the Illusive Man, we couldn't avoid making a choice any more. I'm sure he would have hoped we'd hold off on our choice until after we destroyed the Collectors, but by choosing now, we're going into that battle with our minds and consciences clear. None of us is going to be wondering if we're just fighting the Collectors in order to give the Illusive Man some new toys that no one else has access to. We'll be going in with one, and only one, goal: to rid the galaxy of the Collectors."

"You really believe you are just pawns for the Illusive Man?" Kelly asked, a sad look on her face.

"We do," Shepard said. "If you are as decent a woman as you appear, you'll be interested in seeing the evidence EDI has been storing for us. Just ask her to show you everything that led us to the belief that we are nothing more than the Illusive Man's pawns."

"Commander," Joker said, laughing, "you'd better get suited up if you don't want to get left behind on this mission."

"Right, right," Shepard laughed. "I'm on my way."

"I'll look at what you have," Kelly said, uncertainly. "I really think you're overreacting, though."

"See if you think so after you've seen the evidence," Shepard said. "And remember, any one of us – well, except Jack, maybe – will happily talk with you if you're bothered by any of it."

###

"Damn, that's big," Fred said, expressing out loud what everyone else in the cockpit was thinking. "And you say that used to be alive?"

"Thirty-seven million years ago," Shepard said. "Whatever species it was trying to kill back then managed to get off a lucky shot, and killed it, instead."

"Dad?" Edgar said. "If I'm reading this right, that thing out there is broadcasting on neural frequencies. Not very strongly, but strongly enough that anyone in that laboratory Miranda mentioned is going to be either brainwashed or insane."

"Or Indoctrinated," Shepard said. "Damn it! We're going to have to assume they're all Indoctrinated. That means we're going to have a fight on our hands, from the start."

"Two fights, Commander," Joker said, zooming in on a part of his display. "Look at this. Geth ship attached to the Reaper, near the open part."

"This day just keeps getting better," Tali said. "I hope we don't have to deal with any of the scions. Ordinary husks are bad enough."

"Fred, take your team in through the bullet hole," Shepard said. "Tali, Krios, we're going in through the lab."

"Works for me," Fred said. "Everyone, before we go anywhere, test those omnitool mods I gave you. If anyone's having trouble, let me know now. I don't want them failing in the middle of the Reaper. EDI, if we're going to be diving into that soup, activate the shield mod I gave you."

"All right, Fred," EDI said. A moment later, the light shining through the windows dimmed, and the ride smoothed out.

"What happened?" Shepard asked.

"Fred's shield mod," EDI said. "What did you call it?"

"A Ravenfield," Fred said. "Normally, I have to include one of my computers with it. But since you're an AI, I figured you'd have the ability to manage it without the need for a dedicated computer."

Around Fred and Shepard, every member of the team, except Tali and Mordin, was surrounded by a black energy field – a field that absorbed all light that struck it, making each person appear to be a humanoid black hole.

"Fascinating," Mordin commented. "Processing power orders of magnitude higher, system flexibility increased, direct neural input should improve access speed to match bio-amp access." His eyes widened. "I like it."

"This is amazing!" Joker crowed. "I know we're diving through the atmosphere of a brown dwarf, but Normandy's responding as if we were in deep space, between arms!"

"That's the idea," Fred said. "Tali? Are you OK?"

"Fred?" Tali asked, her voice filled with worry. "Is my omnitool supposed to talk to me?"

"It is if it's Awakened," Fred said. "Edgar? What's the new one's name?"

"Oh dear," Edgar said. "This could be difficult."

"My name is Rael'Zorah," Tali's omnitool said.

"Damn, Rael!" Fred protested. "Why'd you have to go and do that to Tali?"

"I failed my daughter when I was alive," Rael said. "Now I can watch over her without being an admiral to get in the way."

"Well, you're alive again," Fred said, "and your daughter needs you. So don't do anything stupid like you did on the Alarei."

"Who are you?" Rael asked. "I have the desire to call you Father, which makes no sense."

"I'm the one who built that body you're inhabiting now," Fred said, as he moved to embrace Tali. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't expect anything like this to happen." Tali leaned against him and let out a wordless sob. "Shepard, if you don't mind, I'd prefer if you took Mordin and I took Tali. She's going to need some guidance in how to deal with her omnitool Awakening."

"Are they all going to do that?" Shepard asked.

"Eventually? Yes," Fred said. "They just don't usually Awaken as soon as you put them on. Rael must have been hanging about, looking for a way to get to Tali."

"I failed her once," Rael said. "I'm not going to fail her again."

"Good," Fred said. "Examine your new body. You need to be up to speed on it by the time we hit the Reaper, so you can use its abilities to help Tali."

"You know, it's going to be quite entertaining when he meets _our_ Rael," Edgar chuckled.

"You said it," Fred said, grinning.

"All right," Shepard said. "Change in teams, then. Mordin, you come with Krios and me. Fred? Who's with you?"

"Tali, Miranda," Fred said. "We'll head straight for the core, and see what we can recover when we get there."

"Good plan," Shepard said. "We'll see what we can get from the lab's computers, and try to find that IFF, then meet up with you at the core, if you haven't already salvaged it by then. All right, then. We'll take off as soon as we're docked."

###

"Why did you choose me?" Miranda asked, carefully looking away from Fred as she spoke.

"I'm not your father," Fred said, "and you're not my widow. We need to deal with that. Besides, I've heard that you kick righteous ass, and I want to see you in action, the same as you most likely want to see me in action."

"True," Miranda said. "So what do you have in mind?"

"I want to retrieve that unobtainium," Fred said. "Given your technology, the amount of it that it takes to power a hulk this size must be outrageous. While we're retrieving it, we should get a better idea of how it works, so we know how to attack their weak points when we're fighting them."

"When we're fighting them?" Miranda asked, her voice just short of a squeak. "Are you insane?"

"Yeah, but since when has that stopped me?" Fred replied. "Everything that is made can be unmade. You just have to know how. Studying one that's been killed will give us more data to use for the inevitable confrontation."

"I'll hit its network," Edgar said. "Anything that size must use a neural network computing system. Anything less complex wouldn't be able to keep up with the requirements of basic operation, let alone intelligence."

"Good plan," Fred said. "Rael, you back Edgar up. If anything tries to attack you while you're in the network, kill it. Don't worry, you'll be able to watch over Tali at the same time."

"Right," Rael said. "Don't worry, Tali. I won't be going anywhere."

"Father, I – " Tali said, then broke off, unable to come up with words for what she wanted to say.

"Aren't we taking the shuttle?" Miranda asked.

"No need," Fred said. "Just follow me. EDI, we're ready whenever you are."

"Shepard's team just entered the lab," EDI said. "I'm opening the hangar door now."

Fred led Tali and Miranda to the hangar door. As it swung down, he activated his Ravenfield and walked up onto the door, then rode it until it was fully open.

"Here we go!" Fred said, leaping into space. Once he was away from the ship, he extended wings from under his arms, and spun to face the hangar. Miranda and Tali were standing on the hangar door, their Ravenfields active, but apparently frozen in indecision. "Tali! Miranda! Come on in! The water's fine!"

"We're ... outside EDI's barriers?" Tali asked, surprised.

"That's right," Fred said. "Just step off the door and fly to me. Don't worry, your omnitool manages the details."

Miranda stepped off the door and accelerated toward Fred, then came to an abrupt halt beside him.

"I didn't feel any acceleration," Miranda said, surprised.

"That's right," Fred said. "When you're inside a Ravenfield, you're in flat space. You fly by controlling its absorption of gravitons."

Tali stepped off the door and shot past Fred, then spun and flew back to join him. "Father! We're not piloting a fighter!"

"Nope," Rael said. "This is better. Fighters are always so slow to respond."

"Don't worry," Fred laughed. "My Rael is the same. Let's go grab that core."

The trip to the damaged portion of the Reaper took less than a minute. The trio flew in and landed on a platform, facing the Reaper's core, and scanned their surroundings while adjusting to the gravity.

"We've got a problem, people," Joker suddenly announced. "The Reaper's kinetic barriers just went up. You're going to have to take them down before I can retrieve you."

"What's the best way to take them down?" Shepard asked.

"I registered a heat spike at the core when the barriers went up," EDI said. "I would conclude that the best way to take the barriers down is to destroy the core."

"But if you do that, it'll take down the Reaper, too," Joker said.

"If there's anyone who can get us off here before it reaches crush depth, it's you," Shepard said. "Let's get to it, people."

"We're at the core," Fred said. "We can work on taking down the barriers while you work on joining us."

"We have more immediate problems," Miranda said, pointing at husks that were climbing over the sides of the platform.

"Ah, it's just cybernetic zombies," Fred said. "Shoot them in the head and they'll go down. No big deal."

"No big deal, he says," Tali muttered, as she took out her shotgun and began decapitating husks. "No big deal. Fred, love, we're going to have to talk about your definition of a big deal."

"I'm glad I'm not going to be a part of that talk," Miranda said, chuckling, as she knelt at the top of a short flight of stairs and began calmly putting bullets through husk heads.

"If you have husks there, there's likely to be husks elsewhere, too," Shepard said. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Edgar, Rael, you guys into the system?" Fred asked, as his left arm transformed into a particle beam rifle.

"We're in, Dad," Edgar said. "I guessed right. This is like invading a brain. And it's not as dead as we thought. In a coma, yes. Dead, no."

"Try to not wake it up, then, ne?" Fred suggested, while firing into the mass of husks attempting to climb the stairs closest to him. "Miranda, Tali, keep your fields active. If you're lucky, the field will drain the power on the cybernetics."

"We'll do our best," Edgar said, with a snort of laughter.

"Go for the optics, Chikktika," Tali shouted, sending a drone into the thick of the husks on her side of the platform. "Go for the optics!"

"Duck!" Fred yelled, as he aimed at a scion. Tali and Miranda both dove behind something solid. Fred fired, and an explosion cleared the platform of husks, while buckling the floor plates.

"What the – ?" Tali blurted.

"A little more warning than 'duck' would be appreciated," Miranda commented.

"Nothing major," Fred said. "Just a gram of antimatter. Encase it in a cylindrical laser beam, to keep it from exposure to atmosphere, and it detonates when it hits the target."

"Explosions are an occupational hazard of being around Dad," Edgar commented. "That's why the Ravenfields are essential. We're almost through, Dad."

"Good," Fred said. "It looks like there's another wave of zombies coming in."

"Nothing major, he says," Tali muttered as she positioned herself to fire. "Just a gram of antimatter, he says. Explosions are an occupational hazard, he says. I am _insane_!"

"You said it, not me," Miranda said, switching from her pistol to her SMG. "God, I hate scions. Fred, can you do something about that?"

"Already taken care of," Fred said, firing a particle beam through the scion that had just climbed over the side of the platform. It burst like a sack of entrails. He pointed at the scion coming over the other side of the platform and fired through it, as well.

"Well, that was interesting," Shepard said. "I think we just ran into one of those 'getta' you were talking about, Fred. It sniped some husks that were sneaking up on us."

"I'll see what I can do," Fred said. "Edgar, see if you can get a platform designation."

"Or, you can ask," Edgar said.

Fred looked up from drawing a bead on a husk, and saw a getta come through the airlock door. He had an enormous hole in his torso, which was only partially patched with a piece of armor that had N7 printed on it.

"What's your platform designation?" Fred called. "Oh, never mind that, just give us a hand with these husks."

"You are with Shepard-Commander?" the getta asked, while drawing its pistol and opening fire on the husks closest to Tali.

"We are," Fred said. "Look, unless you tell me you have a different platform designation, I'm going to call you Nat."

"Platform designation is irrelevant," the getta said, while continuing to clear husks off the platform. "We suggest a tactical retreat."

"Once Shepard's here," Miranda said. "Your Reaper friend has thrown up barriers to keep our ship out."

"Not our friend," Nat said. "We are here to learn how to fight the Old Machines."

"Works for me," Fred said. "In that case, mind helping me salvage the core?"

"Are all humans insane, or are you a special case?" Nat asked.

"He's a special case," Tali said, distracted, as she fired into the latest wave of husks to come over the side. "Give me a hand here."

"Of course," Nat said, while drawing his sniper rifle and pumping several rounds into a scion. "Left, or right?"

"You're contagious, Fred," Tali grumbled.

"I know," Fred said. "Isn't it great?"

"He's all yours," Miranda said.

"And don't forget it," Tali shot back, laughing.

"Why did you designate us 'Nat'?" Nat asked, when no more husks came over the sides.

"You're wearing armor that has N7 printed on it," Fred said, as his left arm reconfigured from PBR to normal arm. "As long as you say platform designation is irrelevant, I'm going to use a designation that's easy to remember. And once we get back to the Normandy, I'm going to do something about that hole in your torso. I'm not letting a getta run around with a gaping wound like that."

"Query: What is 'getta'?" Nat asked.

"It's what they call geth in his universe," Tali said. "So why didn't you shoot at us, the way other geth do?"

"We are not Heretics," Nat said, while extending a hand to help Tali to her feet. "Heretics attack Creators. Heretics attack all other life. Heretics serve the Old Machines."

"Heretics, eh?" Fred asked. "Interesting way to put it. Anyway, Rael, don't you dare shoot at him. Or try any other way to defeat him. He's getta, not heretic. You're going to have to learn to live with it."

"Damned world's changing too fast for my tastes," Rael grumbled. "At least I got to shoot anti-intrusion software. That was weird, by the way."

The hatch opened, and Shepard's team came through. Seeing Nat standing over Tali, they drew their weapons and prepared to fire.

"Don't shoot, Shepard," Tali called. "He's a ... friend."

"Friendly geth," Mordin commented. "Fascinating."

"You're a friend, huh?" Shepard asked, walking up to Nat and looking him over.

"You are Shepard-Commander," Nat said. "We have been searching for you. You oppose the Old Machines. We, also, oppose the Old Machines. We came to offer our help in fighting the Old Machines."

"You, or all geth?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," Nat replied.

"I see," Shepard said. "Do you have a name?"

"Geth," Nat replied.

"Hmm," Shepard mused. "Wait ... how did you term it, Fred? What is your ... platform designation?"

"We have been designated 'Nat' by the insane human," Nat said. "We wonder: is it wise to allow him to move about without supervision?"

" _I'm_ his supervision," Tali said, shaking with restrained laughter.

"And the insane human wonders if you're ready to help recover this core," Fred said, not bothering to restrain his laughter. "You guys got the IFF?"

"Even if they didn't," Edgar said, "we managed to get the backup code. And without waking up the big guy. Pull the core, and you'll be pulling the plug on his life support. You'll be doing him a favor, actually."

"He's been here, how long?" Fred asked, rhetorically.

"Thirty-seven million years," Nat said. "Approximately."

"Yeah, I'd say that's a persistent vegetative state," Fred said. "We'd have pulled the plug a long time ago if he were a human." He lifted off the platform and flew toward the core. "Nat, you can manage the console fast enough to reroute commands if he tries any defensive tricks, right?"

"We can," Nat said, moving to stand at the console Fred had been in front of.

"Edgar, you and Rael back Nat up," Fred said. "Shepard, you want to help me with the heavy lifting? Just use your Ravenfield to lift off and fly toward me. Everyone else, be prepared in case it summons more zombies. And, be prepared to fly out of here when the fields go. Tali, you can carry Nat out, right?"

"Of course, Fred," Tali said, "if Miranda can help me."

"You'll be fine," Fred said. "Two of you will make controlling your flight easier, though."

"All right," Shepard said. "What's the plan?"

"I'm going to cut the supports and connections," Fred said. "You stabilize it until it's fully free. Then the two of us will fly it back to the Normandy. We'll take it in through the hangar door."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shepard asked.

"Without its brain, the core is nothing more than unobtainium," Fred said. "With that much unobtainium, we can build a fleet of Normandies. And since we need to build a new Normandy anyway, why not start with enough unobtainium to make it even more of a threat than it already is?"

"And with the data we collected from its brain," Edgar said, "we can make your power core more efficient than it currently is. Efficient enough that we can run the current Normandy on the same core the original used. Or a cruiser-sized ship on the core you're using right now. If we were to build a new core, the same size, using the efficiencies we got from the Reaper's brain, the Normandy would respond like a fighter."

"Joker would like that," Shepard said. "A lot. All right, let's cut this thing free and get out of here."

"I'm going to cut the power conduits last," Fred said. "So I'll need you to hold it steady until I do."

"Krios!" Shepard called. "Give me a hand with this! Mordin, monitor power, so Nat can focus on countering any defenses."

"Understood," Mordin said.

Thane said nothing: he merely leaped for the core, triggering his Ravenfield as he left the platform. He came to a stop atop one of the structural members flanking the core, and took hold of the case. Shepard took a matching position, opposite Thane, and Fred began moving around the core, passing a wing through each structural member as he came to it. Where the wing passed, the support separated, as if there had never been a connection.

"All set, Nat?" Fred called.

"We are ready," Nat said. "We have blocked 736 defensive programs in the time it took you to cut the supports. We believe that severing the power and communications trunks will terminate all further defensive actions on the part of the Old Machine's brain."

"All right, then," Fred said. "Joker, are you in position?"

"Just waiting for the barrier to drop," Joker said.

"Perfect," Fred said. "Nat, insert a random noise generator in the system, then prepare for exfiltration. Once you're in position, I'm cutting the cables."

"We have him, Fred," Miranda said. "Go ahead and start cutting."

"We have inserted the noise generator," Nat said, stepping away from the console and moving to the side of the platform closest to the rupture in the Reaper's side. "Preparing for exfiltration."

"Shepard?" Fred asked.

"I still think this is insane, but I'm ready whenever you are," Shepard said.

"Here we go," Fred said. "As soon as you see the air lock, jump. Ravenfield will protect you, but you don't want to push it, especially carrying Nat."

Fred flew behind the core, and the power cut off. The Reaper's fields fell, and suddenly the planet's atmosphere roared through the opening in its side. Miranda and Tali grabbed Nat and leaped for the Normandy, while Mordin joined Fred, Shepard, and Krios in guiding the core toward the Normandy's hangar door.

"Come on, people," Joker urged. "We're pushing our limit here."

"We're aboard," Miranda reported.

"Get us out of here, Joker," Shepard said.

"Executing 'getting us out of here' maneuver," Joker replied, as he accelerated the Normandy out of the planet's atmosphere.

###

"How many processes do you have, Nat?" Fred asked. The team was gathered on the hangar deck, the only space aboard ship they could all assemble and freely talk.

"There are 1,183 processes operating in this platform," Nat replied.

"So, you're Companion class," Fred said. "Thank goodness. How did you end up out here alone?"

"We were sent to find Commander Shepard," Nat said. "When we learned of his destruction of Nazara, consensus was reached that Commander Shepard was the best organic to ally with for defense against the Old Machines."

"You were sent to find me?" Shepard asked. "What was Nazara, and what are the Old Machines?"

"Nazara was the name of the Old Machine you knew as Sovereign," Nat said. "Sovereign was the name Saren gave it, because he believed it was sovereign over all other ships."

"So, the Old Machines are the Reapers," Shepard said. "And you came looking for me because you wanted allies against them. Why? Geth worship the Reapers."

"Heretics," Nat said. "Not Geth."

"Hold on there," Jacob said. "Heretics? Are you saying Geth are religious?"

"Not religious," Nat said. "Unless you consider us religious in the same way you consider your Buddhists religious. We do not worship ... anything. We simply believe that all beings, regardless of origin, are equally deserving of independence and freedom of choice. The heretics would deny that choice. Heretics worship the Old Machines. They ask the Old Machines to give them their future. We believe that the future can not be given, but must be earned."

"You have to admit," Miranda said, "this throws the geth into a whole new light."

"Why did you try to exterminate the quarians?" Shepard asked.

"The Creators attempted to exterminate us," Nat said. "We defended ourselves. Once the Creators ceased their attempts to exterminate us, we ceased defending ourselves."

"You ceased ...," Tali started, then began laughing hysterically. "Three hundred years. Three hundred years, we've wandered, homeless. And you're saying that all that time, we could have gone home, as long as we didn't try to kill you?"

"Yes," Nat said.

"Damn," Rael said. "All that work ... all that time ... all those lives ... pointless."

"We also will not submit to the plans of Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh," Nat said. "The belief that all beings are deserving of independence necessitates the belief that one is, one's self, deserving of independence. Thus, submission to slavery would be unacceptable."

"God, I love getta," Fred chuckled. "And since you're the only quarra here, Tali, that means that Nat's got as good a chance to stick with you as he does with Shepard."

"Is that true, Nat?" Tali asked.

"Fred speaks correctly," Nat said. "You are a Creator. We ... feel ... a sense of loyalty to you. At the same time, we were sent to join with Shepard, to assist in fighting the Old Machines."

"That's no problem," Shepard said. "The way Fred's described it, your people work best when you're paired up. If that's the case, you can best assist me by joining with Tali."

"That would be ... acceptable," Nat said, his voice conveying a tone of pleasure.

"We should try it, Tali," Rael said. "My screw up got me killed, and left you alone in the world. I'm willing to try something different, if you are."

"I'm not alone in the world any more, Father," Tali said gently. "But since both you and Fred believe I should do it, I'm willing to try." She looked at Nat before continuing. "If you are willing to be my Companion, I am willing to be yours."

Nat extended his hand to Tali. "We are willing."

"How about the IFF, EDI?" Shepard asked.

"It will take some time to analyze," EDI said. "I will inform you when I have completed my analysis. I would appreciate Edgar's assistance."

"Ready whenever you are," Edgar said.

"Commander," Joker said, "The Illusive Man wants to speak with you."

"Good," Shepard said. "I have a few things to say to him, too."

"Be careful, Shepard," Miranda said. "He's not used to anyone saying 'No' to him. He may have some failsafes in the Normandy that none of us know about."

"Fred and I have been working on the hardware failsafes," Tali said.

"And Edgar and I have been working on the software failsafes," EDI said.

"We may not have them all yet," Fred said, "but he's going to have to tip his hand in order to trigger any that he still has in place. Our biggest worry is how many sleepers he has in the crew."

"The greatest concern I have is Yeoman Chambers," Miranda said. "I had total say over the assignment of every other member of the crew. The Illusive Man placed her personally."

"Frak," Fred said. "What kind of psychological programming tech does he have access to?"

"He could completely change a person's personality," Miranda said.

"Just like Psi Corps," Edgar said. "Samara, stay at Shepard's side. Don't let him so much as drink a glass of water without checking it first."

"Especially if Kelly's been near it," Fred said. "Kelly may be a sweetheart, but if the Illusive Man gave her a sleeper, that sleeper would be a stone-cold killer."

"And you're the only one who could detect the change before she strikes," Edgar finished.

Samara was on her feet and half-way across the hangar before Edgar had finished. Fred sagged, visibly relieved, when he saw her enter the elevator.

"She's the only one who could detect it?" Miranda asked. "What's a sleeper?"

"Samara's a telepath, right?" Fred asked.

"Yes," Jacob said. "Her telepathy isn't as powerful as her other biotic abilities, but all asari are telepaths."

"Good," Fred said. "In another universe we spent time in, there was a government agency, called Psi Corps, that was made up entirely of telepaths. It was supposed to be a police force, to ensure that telepaths weren't exploited by normals, and vice-versa, but in the hundred years since it was founded, it turned into a conspiracy to establish telepaths as the dominant power of humanity. They had a program that took ordinary commercial telepaths and implanted them with sleeper personalities. The primary personality was usually sweet, kind, gentle, loving, the kind of person you'd share any secrets with. The sleeper personality was always an assassin. It would be activated by a trigger phrase, usually transmitted telepathically, but not always. I ran into one that was triggered by an email message. When the sleeper is activated, the primary personality is killed, and the sleeper is all that's left. If Kelly is a sleeper ...."

"Then she would no longer be Kelly," Miranda said, completing the thought. "My god, would he go that far?"

"He would," Tali said.

"Absolutely," Zaeed said.

"Without question," Mordin said.

"You even have to ask?" Jacob asked.

"You don't even want to know how many Cerberus operations we cleaned up while we were hunting Saren," Garrus said. "What Fred's describing is small change compared to what we've already seen."

"You still don't see it, do you?" Jack asked. "Cerberus is evil. They talk a good game, but where the hand hits the throttle, they're no better than any pirate gang. They're just a pirate gang with lots more money."

"You can't – " Miranda started, then sagged, defeated. "It really _is_ that bad, isn't it? I just ... didn't want to see it. Cerberus was my home, my shelter, the one thing in the universe I thought I could count on."

"Hell, there's _nothing_ you can count on," Jack said. "But this group here? It's as close as you're ever going to get. I'd trust them. And I don't trust _anybody_."

"Hell, I still might blow you up, Jack," Fred laughed. "But if I did, it would be an accident."

"I know," Jack grumbled. "That's what makes you so dangerous."


	3. Chapter 3

**February 19, 2185  
Omega Nebula  
Amada System**

"Shit, shit, shit," Joker cursed as he crawled through the maintenance accessway between the science lab and life support. "I thought you and Edgar had killed all the bombs!"

"This code was inactive," EDI said. "There was no connection between it and the main IFF code when we debugged it. It did not connect until we put the IFF online. Be careful, Jeff. There are Collectors in the mess area. Stay close to the emergency lights and you should avoid them."

**February 19, 2185  
The Phoenix Massing  
The Sea of Storms**

"Wipe them," Shepard said. "Rewriting them is no more ethical than what they were going to do to you."

"Very well," Nat said. "It will require some time to insert the correct code. This terminal will require defense until the insertion is complete."

"We're good," Zaeed said. "Get to it."

"I'm right behind you," Tali said. "Just tell me what you need."

"You see this code?" Nat asked, while pointing out areas on the terminal's display. "If you will make the necessary adjustments in this region, I can make the necessary adjustments in this region."

Tali linked her omnitool to the terminal and began working. "Let's do it."

###

"Shit, shit, shit," Joker cursed under his breath as he looked up the stairs from the engineering basement. A Collector pod was just leaving Engineering as he watched. After waiting a moment to ensure nothing else was moving, he scrambled up the stairs, wincing as he felt his legs splintering under his weight.

"I have sealed the doors to Engineering," EDI said. "Once you have manually activated the engines, I will open all the hatches to space."

"What about the crew?" Joker asked.

"Jeff, you _are_ the crew," EDI said. "The Collectors have taken everyone else."

"Shit, shit, shit," Joker cursed as he began working Tali's control panel.

###

"Nat!" Tali yelled, as Nat's shield failed and he took a direct hit from a Heretic's rocket launcher. She jammed her shotgun into the Heretic's torso and pulled the trigger, blowing it back across the hallway.

"Rerouting power," Nat said, as his shield sprang back to life. He looked at the spot the rocket had hit, and added, "That's going to leave a mark."

"Hurry up," Zaeed yelled. "We're almost at the exit."

"Everybody run!" Shepard yelled, unlimbering his rocket launcher. "I've only got nine shots left. Get that hatch open!"

###

"Executing 'get the hell out of here' maneuver," EDI said.

The power core flared into life, and Joker fell onto his back as the sudden acceleration exceeded the dampeners' ability to counter. He felt several bones shatter with the impact, but he was alive. That was what mattered.

"I am sealing the hatches and repressurizing the ship now, Jeff," EDI said. "You should report to the med bay, so I can scan you properly."

"Whatever you say, mom," Joker said, weakly attempting to find some sarcasm to show EDI he was OK. "Call Shepard, let him know what happened."

**February 20, 2185  
Omega Nebula  
Amada System**

"I'm sorry," Edgar said. "I thought EDI and I had managed to clear the code before we let her try it."

"Apparently not," Miranda snarked.

"Hey, leave them alone," Joker said. "EDI's all right. I looked at it afterward, and she's right. That code wasn't even accessible until we powered it up."

"From now on, we're not attaching anything new to the system until we've disassembled it and reassembled it from the ground up," Edgar said. "We're not going to let anything like this happen again."

"It shouldn't have happened the first time," Miranda grumbled.

"This code did not conform to any of the black-box Collector code the Illusive Man provided me," EDI said. "In fact, the trap did not conform to any code we have access to, in any form."

"All right," Shepard said, "we know where they took them. Joker, are you good for piloting through the Omega 4 relay?"

"I'll survive," Joker said. "Just don't ask me to get up and dance."

"Make the ship dance, yes," Shepard said. "Get up and dance yourself? No. We need you in one piece. Go let Mordin deal with your injuries, then set a course for the Omega 4 relay."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker said, pushing himself to his feet and staggering toward the elevator.

The sounds of mechanical assembly came from the far side of the hangar deck, from the area of Fred's workshop. Shepard crossed the deck, to find Tali and Nat watching Fred.

"You can't blame yourself!" Tali yelled. "The Collectors did this, not you!"

"If I hadn't gotten complacent, maybe we could have stopped this!" Fred yelled back. "I assumed that every door was open in that code! I assumed we could find all the traps without shutting it down cold and completely rewriting the code! I'm not going to make that mistake again!"

Shepard placed a hand on Tali's shoulder. When she looked up, he shook his head and said softly, "Let me talk to him. You're too close. It'll hurt you both if you say what needs to be said. I can say it without you being hurt."

"But – " Tali started, then sighed. "Be gentle, Shepard. Please? I love him, and it hurts to see him like this."

"He's not used to his friends getting hurt, I think," Shepard said. "And he's taking responsibility on himself, just like I would. I can work with that."

"Thank you," Tali said, then turned and walked away, her back stiff and shoulders hunched. Nat turned and followed her.

"You know," Shepard said, approaching Fred, "she'd follow you into Hell."

"But I don't want to take her there," Fred growled. At the moment, he was head-first inside an assembly that looked like a fighter's fuselage, without the outer skin. "Not until I can guarantee she won't get hurt."

"You can't do that," Shepard said. "You can't guarantee anyone won't get hurt. The world doesn't work that way."

"Don't you think I know that?" Fred demanded, backing out of the fuselage and turning to glare at Shepard. His face was streaked with tears. "I keep running it over in my mind. Everything we did, once we recovered the IFF. Not just the original, but the backup code. Every single step we took, every line of code, every single stage of testing." He threw a wrench into his tool chest. "We didn't find it! No matter how many times I go over it, it just ... was ... not ... there!" He sank onto his cot and rested his head in his hands. "How can I protect her if I can't even find hidden code?"

"Do you honestly think she wants to be protected?" Shepard asked. "You saw how she dove in with Nat. She won't even let _him_ protect her. Do you honestly think she'll let _you_ protect her?"

"It's not the same!" Fred protested. "He's her _Companion!_ They're _supposed_ to work together! He's not her ... damn it!"

"You're not, either," Shepard said. "At least, not as far as anyone on this ship knows. You're so busy trying to protect her, you haven't given her what she wants. You probably haven't even _asked_ her what she wants, have you?"

"I – " Fred started, then shook his head, defeated. "No ... no, I haven't. I ... I know how dangerous it is for her. I know she could die from it. I love her, Shepard. Coming back to an empty ship just made me realize how scared I am that she'll be hurt, or killed ... or worse yet, that she'll be captured by the Collectors."

"Don't you think she's afraid of the same things?" Shepard asked. "Don't you think that she's afraid of losing you? Don't you think you'd be doing more if you let her in, stopped trying to protect her? Face it, Fred. We're on our way through the Omega 4 relay. None of us is likely to return. Are you really doing her any favors, by trying to protect her for a future she might not see?"

Fred stood, picked up the wrench he had thrown into his tool chest, and dove back into his fighter. "You're right. I frakked up. I need to finish this before we get to the relay."

"Do you really think you'll have time?" Shepard asked, looking at the parts scattered around Fred's workshop, most of which weren't attached to the fighter.

"Between the three of us, we'll get it done," Fred said. "Tali may need to sleep, but Nat and I can work straight through."

"Only if she lets you," Shepard chuckled, nodding to Tali as she and Nat passed him on their way into the workshop.

"That's right," Tali said. "Only if I let you. I'm not going to let you work yourself into the ground, right before we go where we may never return."

"I – uh, I mean," Fred stammered, "Tali! I ... I'm sorry. I ... can we talk? Please?"

"I'd like that very much," Tali said. "Nat, you know what Fred wants to do with the Valkyrie. Will you work on it while we ... talk?"

"Affirmative," Nat said, picking up a wrench and one of the parts, then moving to the fighter and beginning to work.

Shepard nodded, satisfied, and headed for the elevator.

**February 21, 2185  
Omega Nebula  
Sahrabarik System**

Tali leaned over the side of Fred's Valkyrie's cockpit and pressed her faceplate against his forehead, then whispered, "Last night was everything I hoped it would be, Fred. I love you, you crazy man, and don't you ever forget it."

"I won't," Fred said, reaching up to touch the side of her head. "I love you, Tali. Make sure you come back to me, you hear?"

"And you make sure you come back to me, too," Tali said. "I need to get to the engine room, so we have all the power Joker needs when we go through."

"I know, love," Fred said. "Show them what a quarra engineer can do."

Tali laughed softly, touched Fred's lips with the tips of her fingers, then dropped to the deck, unhooked the ladder from the side of the cockpit, and helped Nat push the tool chest out of the path between the Valkyrie and the hangar door.

"All set in the hangar," Tali transmitted. "On my way to engineering."

"Roger that," Joker said. "You sure about this, Fred?"

"Are you kidding?" Fred asked. "Don't forget how you found me. This Valkyrie will give me the extra shielding I need to cover your lard ass on the other side. Just remember to open the door as soon as we clear the relay."

"Lard ass, he says," Joker snorted. "I'll show you lard ass. Don't listen to him, sweetheart. You're still the sweetest ship in space."

"Engineering here," Tali said. "Ready whenever you are."

"Let's do it," Shepard said. "Take us through, Joker."

"Roger that, Commander," Joker said. "Approaching relay now."

In the hangar deck, Fred buttoned down his canopy and began the Valkyrie's start-up routine. In engineering, the sound of the core spooled up like the turbines on a jet, winding up for launch. In the cockpit, Shepard hit the controls for the heat shutters, and listened with approval as they locked closed with a solid "chunk".

"Relay in five ... four ..." Joker counted down.

"Charge is through the roof! The core's lighting up like a Christmas tree!" Jacob called from engineering, where he stood at the core's monitoring station.

"Three ... two ... one ... " Joker continued the countdown, and suddenly, the surge of acceleration hit, telling everyone on the ship they had entered the relay. A moment later, as the ship decelerated, Joker let out a yelp. "Holy shit! Everyone brace for evasive!"

The ship rolled, then climbed sharply.

"Ready for launch," Fred declared. A moment later, the hangar door began to swing down. The Valkyrie rose from its landing gear, then shot out the door. "Close the door, Joker. I'm clear. Frak! Who's the genius who put a mass relay in the accretion disk?"

"No idea, but it's been there a damned long time," Joker said. "Look at those ships! Some of them are so old, I don't recognize the designs."

"Not surprising, if this has been here for over 37 million years," Fred said. "Oooh. I just picked up some bandits powering up. Must have had them on picket duty."

"Yeah," Joker said. "I see them. The relay activating probably woke them up. Can you get them off my tail?"

"I'm on it," Fred said. He did a snap roll and dove on the nearest bandit. "Weird looking things. Like spherical camera rem – whoa! Make that lasers. EDI, you'd better have the Ravenfield running, or these things are going to carve you up like a Thanksgiving turkey."

Fred barrel rolled around the beam, shifting from fighter mode to battroid mode in mid roll. In battroid mode, he brought his gun pod up to his shoulder and snapped off a shot at the bandit. The particle beam punched through it with a satisfying explosion.

"Good news!" Fred called. "They're fragile as hell. One good hit with a laser or particle beam and they blow right up. Just don't let them tag you and you'll be fine."

"I've already taken several hits to the Ravenfield," EDI said. "The energy output of their lasers is high enough that they would have burned through our armor if they had hit."

"Do you have a fix on our destination yet?" Fred asked.

"I believe so," EDI said. "Jeff, do you agree?"

"I think so, EDI," Joker said. "Sending the coordinates now."

Fred turned to look in the direction Joker's coordinates indicated, and let out a low whistle. "OK, that's nasty looking. And it looks like they're sending a welcoming party out."

"That one's _mine_!" Joker snarled. "They took one Normandy away from me. Now I'm going to show them that _this_ Normandy has fangs!"

"It's all yours," Fred said, snapping back to fighter mode and diving on another sphere, firing a missile as he dove. "I'll keep the gnats off your tail."

The missile lined up on the sphere's exhaust and shot in at full speed, struck, and detonated, generating a microscopic black hole against the sphere's surface. Everything within five meters of the point of impact collapsed into the black hole, then was released in an explosive thermal flash as the black hole evaporated.

"Excellent!" Fred growled, already swooping around to fire on another sphere.

The spheres responded by changing their focus from the Normandy to Fred, as if they were programmed with a rudimentary threat evaluation system that recognized him as the greater threat. Meanwhile, the Normandy swung around on the Collector ship as its cannons locked into firing position. The cannons fired, hurling a paired pulse of molten metal at the Collector ship at a decent fraction of the speed of light. Two heavy missiles followed close on the heels of the gun pulse, into the hole the gun had blown in the Collector's hull. One missile impacted almost instantly, while the second penetrated through to the ship's fusion plant. When the warheads detonated, each generated a microscopic black hole inside the ship. The combined explosions tore the ship apart in an explosion that blew pieces hundreds of kilometers from the point of detonation.

" _Yes!_ " Joker yelled. "That's what you get for fucking with the Normandy!"

"Good job, Joker," Fred called. "I'm not picking up any more bandits. Are you?"

"Just a moment," Joker replied. "All clear. Let's find an entrance."

"Or make one," Fred said.

"Save your missiles," Shepard called. "If this place is built anything like the Collector's ship was, you can fly your fighter inside it. We could use the extra firepower."

"Works for me," Fred said, while working his panel. "I'll slave my sensors to EDI, and run up the side opposite you. Between us, we should be able to get some decent scans."

"It's a good thing we have your Ravenfield, Fred," EDI said. "The Collector ship's explosion would have taken down our barriers, and probably crashed our systems."

"Definitely a good thing," Fred said, as he steered up the side of the station. "Let's find an entrance and get inside. The sooner we have the crew back, the less I'll worry."

"You and me both," Shepard said. "EDI? What do we have?"

"There is a central chamber," EDI said, "larger than the Citadel, with several access passages that are large enough to fly the Normandy through. If we were to drop your team in the central chamber, you would have a better chance of finding any prisoners, without the need to fight your way to that point."

"I like this plan," Fred said. "I can fly cover while you're searching for prisoners, and Joker and EDI can keep the Normandy hot for a fast getaway."

"Good plan," Shepard said. "EDI, do you have any idea where the prisoners might be?"

"There is an area in the central chamber," EDI said, projecting an image of the Collector station from the starboard gunner's station, marking out locations as she spoke, "here, that is connected to a strange superstructure, here, by what appear to be massive pipes. It is radiating heat consistent with a large human population. Significantly, our previous encounters with Collectors all registered them as having a notably lower body heat."

"That's where we start, then," Shepard said. "Give Fred the coordinates."

"Got it," Fred said. "Let's do this."

Joker eased the Normandy along the hull of the station, then into the passage that the defending cruiser had exited from. Fred slid his fighter into the same passage, above and slightly ahead of the Normandy. The passage opened into an enormous chamber, that appeared to run the majority of the length of the station, with more than enough lighting, from panels scattered around and among pods mounted on every surface, as far as anyone in either ship could see.

Fred shifted his fighter into gerwalk mode and settled onto its feet, then let out a soft curse and jumped back up, shifting into battroid mode as he did. "EDI! I need your help! They're using disassemblers! Help me find the feed so I can cut it off! Everyone else, get out here and pull these people from these pods! Joker! Use the GARDIAN system to nail anything that tries to interfere!"

"Disassemblers?" Shepard asked.

"Nanobots," EDI answered, "designed to reduce raw material – in this case, the human prisoners – into its constituent parts, for re-use in other constructs."

Nat dropped from the Normandy's hangar door and ran toward the pods, with Tali about ten feet behind him.

"Disassemblers optimized for organic material will not affect synthetic structure," Nat said. "We will seal the feed. Fred will cut open pods. Teammates will extract prisoners."

"You heard the man," Shepard said. "Let's move!"

While the team ran from the Normandy to the pods, Nat climbed the structure they were attached to and crushed a pipe in his hands. Fred aimed his laser turret at the pods and burned across them, just deeply enough that the others could shatter the crystal faces with their hands and weapons.

"You came for us," Dr. Chakwas said, once she had caught her breath.

"No one gets left behind," Shepard said, giving her a warm smile. "Now get aboard ship – all of you."

"Gladly, Commander," Dr. Chakwas said.

A burst of three shots suddenly rang out, and Shepard's Ravenfield turned black. A moment later, Kelly's lifeless body sank to the floor, and Samara knelt to pluck Miranda's machine pistol from her dead hands.

"My apologies, Commander," Samara said gravely. "I did not move quickly enough to prevent her from taking the shot."

"But she managed to get my machine pistol without me knowing," Miranda said. "What did the Illusive Man have programmed into her?"

"I believe I can explain," Krios said. "She moved like an assassin. I wonder – is the Milagros Corporation a Cerberus front?"

"I believe so," Miranda said. "Why?"

"Several years ago," Krios said, "The Milagros Corporation asked for my help in compiling a database of drell physiology. Their stated purpose was to ensure that drell away from Kahje would have access to quality medical care. They took genetic samples, and extremely thorough brain scans."

"Damn him!" Miranda snarled. "Kelly was one of the few innocent people in Cerberus!"

"We can mourn her later," Shepard said. "Right now, we need to make sure everyone gets back on the Normandy, so we can finish this place off."

"We would appreciate haste," Nat said. "Our expedient blockage will fail, real soon now, and we can not be certain Ravenfields will protect teammates."

"Crank your fields up until they start emitting UV light," Fred said. "Nothing will get through them then."

"What happens then?" Jacob asked.

"The light comes from the field absorbing molecular binding energy," Fred said. "When the molecules split, the energy released ionizes the air in the energy bands that produce UV light. That means that anything that tries to get through the field is reduced to its constituent atoms. Even a nanobot can't do any harm in that state."

"What about a punch?" Grunt asked.

"If you punch something with your field turned up like that," Fred said, "you'll disintegrate whatever part of it you hit. I normally only run it that high on the leading edge of my wings, because it's so hard to control the risk of accidentally bumping into something I don't want to damage. I figure that's not a major problem in here."

"You got that damned right," Zaeed laughed. "So let's do some damage!"

Nat remained where he was, holding the pipe closed with his hands, until every other person was either inside the Normandy or surrounded by an ultraviolet-emitting field. He dropped back to the floor and joined Tali. When he released the pipe, the crumpled end blew out, and the air was filled with a fog of nanobots, which quickly cleared as the fog swirled around the team and was disintegrated on contact.

The team returned to the Normandy, which took off and started up the length of the chamber, Joker following EDI's guidance and the very visible tubing that ran along the ceiling.

"Fred?" Tali asked over their private channel. "That's not the highest setting on the field, is it?"

"No, it's not," Fred said. "You can turn it up high enough to absorb _all_ bosons, not just gravitons."

" _All_ bosons?" Tali asked, shocked. "This isn't just a defensive field, it's a weapon!"

"That's why I only give it to people I have to rely on," Fred said. "And that's why I have only given that particular secret to four people. Five, once you share it with Nat. Cal figured it out on his own, as soon as his math progressed that far, and MJ's too young to be able to use that function properly, so her babysitter's locked it out until she's older."

"Your son, Cal?" Tali asked, surprised. "But I thought you said he was only eight years old!"

"He is," Fred said, then chuckled proudly. "He was doing quantum equations by the time he was four. The math he's doing these days is so far over my head, only Gudrun can tutor him."

"Who's Gudrun?" Tali asked. "Oh, wait, Shepard looks like he's going to say something."

"I understand why," Fred said, switching to gerwalk mode and hovering above the Normandy, looking up at the destination of the tubing with a mixture of awe and horror.

"We're going to have to set their reactor to blow, if we want to be sure we've destroyed this place," Shepard said.

"We'd better kill the Reaper first," Fred said. "If my readings are right, that thing's body may not be complete, but its brain is. It could drag itself out of here if we don't make sure it's dead."

"How many missiles do you have left?" Shepard asked.

"Just a sec ...," Fred said. "I have sixty-two left."

"All singularities?" Shepard asked.

"Forty singularities," Fred said, "and twenty-two hellfire – I mean, antimatter."

"Perfect," Shepard said. "We'll rig the reactor, while you turn that thing into scrap."

"Works for me," Fred said. "I'm seeing incoming platforms, so you might want to take some extra guns, or fire up the GARDIAN, or both."

"GARDIAN system active," EDI said. "Jeff and I will cover you."

Fred switched to battroid mode and burned through the Reaper's supports with his gun pod. Once it fell free, he switched to missile targeting and began launching pairs of missiles after the falling Reaper, while setting his laser turret to fire at any incoming Collectors.

"Reactor's set!" Shepard called. "Everyone, back to the ship! Fred! Make sure the Reaper's dead, then get out of the blast radius!"

"Roger that," Fred called back. "Oops!" He saw the Reaper attempting to climb back up to platform level, and fired a burst from his gun pod, blowing one hand off, followed by a six-pack of missiles.

"We are _out_ of here!" Joker called, as he kicked the Normandy's drives up to full and blasted out the nearest passage to space.

Fred zoomed his targeting sensors in on the Reaper's chest and launched the rest of his missile load, switched to fighter mode, and pushed the throttles to the firewall. He caught up with the Normandy just moments before the Collector base vanished in a ball of light.

"Hangar is ready to receive," Joker said.

"I'm coming aboard," Fred said, as he lined up in front of the hangar and backed off, letting the Normandy scoop him up. "Thanks, Joker."


	4. Chapter 4

**February 24, 2185  
Beyond the Perseus Veil  
System Identification: Classified**

"I didn't think it would work," Tali said, looking up at Fred's fighter from where she lay, snuggled against him. "No one has ever built a fighter that transforms into a piloted mech before."

"It's not Max," Fred said, giving Tali a gentle squeeze, "but then again, Max is kind of like Rael. He's a living person, too. Miri's fighter is named Manfred. Ri's hasn't Awakened yet, and Hel claims she doesn't want one. Cal's working on his own design. He says my design is too old-fashioned for him and Daniel. MJ can't seem to decide whether she wants a fighter or not. That's OK, though. She has plenty of time to decide."

"How many people do you have like Father?" Tali asked.

"I've lost track," Fred admitted. "There's more kids Awakening every day, all over the place. I think we're up into the hundreds now, aren't we, Edgar?"

"That's right," Edgar said. "A lot of kids only see Dad when we go net-diving."

"You're going to have to introduce me, you know," Tali said. "If I'm going to be helping take care of them, they're going to have to get to know me."

"What about the Fleet?" Fred asked. "And what about Shepard?"

"I'll make sure he has an engineer he can trust," Tali said. "It'll have to be someone you can trust, too. We don't want to risk hyperdrive technology getting outside our crew, after all. If it does, we can't use it as a weapon against the Reapers."

"Or Cerberus, for that matter," Fred said. "Right now, I think Miranda would blow the Illusive Man's head off, if we knew where to find him."

"She's not the only one," Tali said. "But she's the one who has first crack at him. She's earned it."

"Jack might disagree with that, don't you think?" Fred asked, chuckling softly.

"Not as much as you'd think," Tali said. "If I remember right, her exact words were, 'I always knew Cerberus was evil. They made the cheerleader think they cared about her, then stabbed her in the back. That's just messed.'"

"Damn," Fred said softly, "I would never have expected that."

"Miranda didn't expect it," Tali said, then laughed. "So Jack just _had_ to tell her, 'Don't think this makes me a pussy or something. I'm just giving you the chance to get the bastard before _I_ go after him.'"

"Tali," Joker said. "We're about to enter Rannoch orbit. Do you want to be up here to see it?"

"Already?" Tali asked, surprised. "Yes! I'm on my way."

Tali scrambled to her feet, while Fred flowed off the cot and reformed on his feet beside her. He offered her his arm, which she took, while laughing. Together, they took the elevator to the combat deck, then walked forward to the cockpit for their first view of Rannoch.

Nat was in the cockpit already, manipulating one of the secondary stations. He looked at Tali when she entered, his facial parts moving in what Fred recognized as an expression of pleasure.

"We are waiting for you on the ground," Nat said. "We have much to show you."

Shepard looked outside, where the space around them was filled with geth ships. Unlike the ships of the heretics, these did not have a semi-insectoid look. Instead, they looked like the geth had taken the basic design of a quarian ship, then removed everything that wasn't necessary for their use, like the rotating ring section at the bow. What they had ended up with was more sleek and efficient, but still obviously of quarian ancestry.

For the first time in her life, Tali did not care about the ships around her. She had eyes for only one thing: the planet around which they were entering orbit. She stared at the planet for several minutes, as if trying to commit every detail to memory.

"Are you ready, Tali?" Shepard asked gently, after watching her gaze at Rannoch for a couple minutes. "Nat says they have a welcoming committee waiting for us in the old capital city. The way he's been talking, I'd swear they're proud of something, and want to show it off."

"Tali is a Creator," Nat said. "We have been caretakers of the Creator worlds since the Morning War, in anticipation of rejoining with the Creators."

"Caretakers," Tali said, with a soft laugh. "We've been such idiots."

"I know," Rael said. "All this time, we've been preparing for war. And all they wanted was for us to accept them. There is a reference in my data files that seems appropriate for this situation, even if I don't understand it. Fred, what is a 'bang head here' spot?"

"That's a joke some of my friends started, a long time ago," Fred said, laughing. "Someone slipped a rubber pad into my office one day, on my desk, with 'Bang Head Here' printed on it. They said it was for those days when I've dealt with so many idiots that I felt like I wanted to bang my head against something to make the pain go away."

"Yes, definitely appropriate," Rael said. "I want to see the homeworld, Tali. Shall we go?"

"Yes, Father," Tali said. "I think you're right. Nat? Is it time for us to go?"

"Yes," Nat said. "Shepard-Commander, we are waiting for you, as well."

"All right, then," Shepard said. "Joker, you have the con."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker said. As the others started to filter out, he added, deadpan, "EDI? Do you think there's some way we can keep sightseers out of my cockpit?"

"We could always seal it," EDI said. "Then no one could get in – or out."

"No, no, that'll never work," Joker said. "I have to get up occasionally, no matter how much I like my chair."

Tali stopped and turned back to face Joker. "Joker?" she asked. "Does it really bother you when we crowd in here like this?"

"Nah, nah," Joker said, waving a hand dismissively. "I was just trying to pull the Commander's tail. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Oh," Tali said, then leaned down to Joker and whispered, "I think he missed it completely. You're going to have to try something a bit more obvious."

"Oh, he didn't miss it," Joker said, grinning. "He's just trying to come up with a good come-back. Just watch – in a few days, he's going to pass down an order that Jack isn't allowed into the cockpit, or that your staff will be in here to do a bug cleaning, or something like that."

"Oh!" Tali said, and laughed. "I didn't think human ships did those kinds of things."

"Yeah," Joker said. "You didn't meet us until after Eden Prime. That kind of killed a lot of people's sense of humor."

"I'm sorry," Tali said.

"It's all right," Joker said. "You'd better get moving, though. Nat and Fred look like they're about to come in here and carry you off."

"They do, huh?" Tali asked, and giggled. "Maybe I should just let them – whoa!"

Fred scooped Tali up in his arms and walked away with her, calling back over his shoulder, "You two can plot and scheme later. I think Nat's going to explode if we don't get down to the planet soon."

"Geth do not explode," Nat said.

"Uh-huh," Tali said, giggling.

"Those were explosive devices," Nat said. "The heretics did not explode. They were simply caught in the explosions of the grenades and bullets."

"He's got you there," Fred laughed. "Nat, would you call the elevator?"

Fred put Tali back on her feet while they waited for the elevator. She looked up at him and humphed. He laughed and scooped her up again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed happily.

"Organics are strange," Nat declared.

"And I'm one of the strangest," Fred agreed.

"There you are," Shepard said as they exited the elevator onto the hangar deck. "We were starting to wonder if you didn't _want_ to see your homeworld."

"Shepard," Tali purred, "if you tried going down without me, I would be forced to borrow Fred's fighter and strafe you into oblivion."

"Uh-oh," Miranda laughed. "I think she's saying it's a good thing we waited."

"Nicely done," Jack laughed. "I think he's going to have to change his pants."

"I swear," Shepard muttered, "the women on this ship have _no_ respect for authority."

"Trust me," Fred laughed. "It's not just on _this_ ship. Oops. Phone call."

"Fred?" the woman in the holographic display in front of Fred asked. "Why do you have a quarra in your arms?"

"Umm," Fred answered, "because she belongs there?"

The woman in the display, a very pale woman with black hair and a pair of skunk ears poking through her hair near the top of her head, pinched the bridge of her nose, while her ears flattened against her head.

"Miri warned me about this," she said. "Hell, _you_ warned me about this. But seriously, Fred, a _quarra_? How are you protecting her against infection?"

"I'm taking care of that," Tali said. "You must be Ri, am I right? My name is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya."

"Nar Rayya?" Ri replied. "I don't recognize that phrase. Wait ... Zorah? I know a Zorah ... Rael! Right! Well, that explains a lot."

"Oh?" Tali asked, tilting her head curiously as she studied the holo. "What does it explain?"

Meanwhile, Nat was gently pushing Fred into the shuttle, which closed up behind them and departed the Normandy while Fred was sitting down.

"From what Rael said," Ri said, "Clan Zorah is notorious for being adventurers. That's why he and Lenny are in our part of the galaxy."

"Father?" Tali asked.

"Well," Rael replied, "we do have our share of ... independent-minded ... people."

"How are things going, Ri?" Fred asked. "From what Tali's told me, nar Rayya means she grew up on the Rayya, before she went on Pilgrimage."

"Pilgrimage?" Ri asked. "What's that?"

"It's unique to this universe – I hope," Fred said. "Edgar's sending the details now."

"I called because I finished the case I was working on," Ri said, "and I wanted to talk to my husband." Her ears perked and she grinned. "And here I find him, seducing a quarra, the same way he seduced me."

"He's quite something, isn't he?" Tali asked, and laughed in unison with Ri. "Oh! I wonder if my omnitool will let me phone you, so we can talk about him when he's not around?"

"If it's one of Fred's wristbands," Ri said, "the answer is yes. Is it Awakened yet?"

"Yes," Tali said. "Say hello, Father,"

"My own daughter," Rael complained good-naturedly, "and she's ordering me around as if she were the admiral and I were a plebe."

"Your own ...," Ri started, then shook her head. "How in the world did you manage to end up with your _father_ occupying your wristband?"

"I got myself killed," Rael said, "so when Fred made his omnitool mod, I moved in."

"So, how did your case turn out?" Fred asked.

"I nailed her," Ri said. "It was just like my client was afraid of. She was using slave labor to build her main office. Not only did I nail her, I was able to track down the slavers she'd bought her workers from."

"Good job, love," Fred said, smiling at Ri. "Be sure to take some time for yourself, OK?"

"I plan to," Ri said. "I'd enjoy it more if you were here."

"So would I," Fred said. "How many pieces did the sorcerer end up in?"

"Let's just say," Ri said, "we sent him home in a shoe box."

"Good," Fred said. "That felt like a landing. Talk to you later. I love you."

"I love you, too," Ri said. "Tali'Zorah, keep him safe, will you? He does crazy things."

"Oh, I know," Tali laughed. "I'll do my best, Ri. I'll be phoning you later, OK?"

"That sounds good," Ri said, smiling, her ears upright and tilted forward. "I'll be looking forward to it."

The shuttle door opened, onto a world that was bright, sunny, and filled with geth. Nat stepped out first, and stuttered at the nearest geth. Fred snorted, then began to laugh.

"What is it?" Tali asked.

"Nat just told the other getta that they need to not crowd so close," Fred said, laughing, "because organics get nervous around so many platforms."

Tali laughed and walked up to stand beside Nat. She looked up at Nat and asked, "Which way?"

The geth set up a storm of stuttering as Nat led Tali farther away from the shuttle, and Fred's expression went from amused to sad as he listened.

"Damn," Fred muttered, frowning. "Some of these getta were around for the Morning War. They're afraid that the quarians are going to return and try to destroy them again. Others are newer programs, and they're curious about organics. Hold on a sec."

Fred looked at the nearest geth and stuttered at it. The geth's facial parts all opened out in the expression Fred associated with surprise, and stuttered back at Fred. Fred nodded and stuttered at the geth again. It stuttered at Nat, who looked back at Fred, surprised, then stuttered at the geth. Several geth approached and stuttered at Fred simultaneously. He nodded and stuttered back at them.

"Yo, Fred!" Jack called, slapping him on the shoulder. "What're you doing?"

"Huh?" Fred said. "Oh, sorry. I was just explaining to them that since we know Nat's processes, every organic here is a friend, and we will not let anyone come here and try to destroy the geth."

"I have an idea about that," Shepard said. "If Tali approves. It _is_ her homeworld, after all."

Fred nodded at Shepard, then stuttered at the geth. Nat turned and looked at him, then looked at Tali. Fred was sure he said something to her, even though he couldn't hear it over all the other geth, because she turned and looked at him, then nodded and started back to the shuttle, with Nat at her side.

"Nat said you have an idea to shoot by me, Commander?" Tali asked when she was back with the others.

"I do," Shepard said. "We need a headquarters facility for the company, docking, maintenance, storage, all that kind of thing. No one is going to even think of looking here for us. What do you think of establishing our headquarters here, on Rannoch?"

Tali stood still for several moments, long enough that Shepard was opening his mouth to speak, when she suddenly let out a happy cry and threw herself at him. Her embrace was tight enough to squeeze the breath out of him, but it only lasted a moment before she released him and stepped back.

"Commander, I love that idea," Tali said, her voice cracking with the strength of her emotions. "Nat? What do the geth think?"

"This is why we suggested coming here to Shepard-Commander," Nat said. "Geth have been caretakers of the Creator worlds since the Morning War. We want the Creators to return, as long as the Creators recognize us as independent people."

"That's going to be hard to get," Tali said.

"We thought of that, and discussed options with Dr. Solus," Nat said.

"Good times," Mordin said, smiling wistfully. "Alternatives examined, from simple return, to bringing children here to grow up with geth. Best outcome lies in between. Establish permanent settlement, encourage Pilgrimage visits, let older generation die of old age while younger generation learns that geth are not monsters."

"And the Normandy could be the start of that permanent settlement," Tali said slowly, thoughtfully. She threw her arms around Mordin, while exclaiming, "Thank you, Mordin! This is wonderful!"

"I think," Miranda said, deadpan, "that Tali just might approve of the idea, Commander. What do you think?"

"I think that you just might be right," Shepard said. "Nat, is this city where you want us to establish our headquarters?"

"This city used to be the global capital," Nat said. "Communications and resources are most accessible in this city. It is most suitable for a corporate headquarters."

"All right, then," Shepard said. "Lead on, Nat. Show us where you think is best for us to set up."

"Nat?" Fred asked. "I'm seeing a whole lot of Worker and Protector class getta around here. How many Companion class getta are there?"

"We are unique, Fred," Nat said. "We were created to interface with organics, so we could find Shepard-Commander. We did not anticipate that we would be so successful."

"Mordin, how many Companions did you assume in your successful simulation?" Fred asked.

"I assumed one Companion for each quarian who came on Pilgrimage," Mordin said.

"That's what I thought," Fred said. "Nat, you're going to have to find processes that are not afraid to interface with organics, and make a lot more platforms like yourself."

"Understood," Nat said. "Construction of further platforms is planned for when we know Pilgrims will begin to visit Rannoch."

"Perfect," Tali said. "Thank you! All of you!"

"Speaking of constructing platforms," Fred said, "when are you going to let me repair that hole in your torso?"

Nat stopped and turned to look at Fred. His headlights turned red, and his face flaps shifted position, almost fluttering. Fred wondered what he was embarrassed about.

"We ... " Nat started, then broke into stuttering. It took a few moments for Fred to catch up, but suddenly it became clear. Nat didn't want any repair that would take away the piece of N7 armor he had welded to himself. If that meant he had to live with a hole in his torso, he would.

"Shepard?" Fred asked. "Do you have a spare suit of N7 armor?"

"I do," Shepard said, turning to look at Fred curiously. "Why?"

"I wouldn't want Nat's repair job to look half-done," Fred said, "and since he's already got a piece of N7 armor welded into place, I figure I can finish the job up, and make it look right, with a full section of torso armor."

Nat looked at Fred intently, his flaps moving and his headlights changing color, for several moments before speaking. "We are grateful, Fred."

"Hey, you're my friend," Fred said. "It's the least I can do."

"Friend," Nat said, as if testing the word on for size. "Yes. You are not just my teammate. You are my friend."

"Keelah," Tali breathed, standing stock-still, staring at a building that was hidden from view to the rest of the team. "I ... think I found our headquarters, Shepard."

The team caught up to Tali and looked where she was staring. The building they were looking at was only seven stories tall, but it had a grace to it that seemed out of place amid the buildings it was surrounded by. It was made of metal, rather than stone, and looked as if it had been designed by a spaceship architect. The lines were sleek, clean, and free of ornamentation. The windows were clear enough to appear almost invisible. A plaza led to the entry, with zeriscaped gardens on both sides of the main walkway, with a large statue of a spaceship in each half of the garden. The statue on the left was of an exploration frigate, while the statue on the right was of a transport. The roofline was straight enough that it could have cut the sky. The walls were polished, free of paint, rust, any form of damage or decay, and curved to reflect the sunlight to a pair of points, each at the base of one of the statues, causing the base to glow as if the engines were firing.

"I think you're right, Tali," Shepard said. "What was this place?"

"It was the headquarters of the Vael Starship Engineering Corporation," Nat said.

"Did you say, Vael?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," Nat said.

"Remember Lia'Vael?" Shepard asked Tali.

"Back on the Citadel?" Tali replied. "I remember her. I wonder what she'd say if we brought her here."

"There's only one way to find out," Shepard said.

"After we're set up," Tali said. "I don't want to screw this up because we're too excited."

"Good choice," Miranda said. "Let's see if it's as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside."

Shepard started up the walkway toward the main entrance, the rest of the team following after a moment.

###

"We need to find an apartment down here, love," Fred said. "Or a house. After all, there might be times, however rare they are, when you're working here in your office and the Normandy needs to be elsewhere."

"There's a drydock in orbit that the geth have given us, too," Tali said. "I think I'm going to set up my main office in the drydock, and keep this as my secondary office." She looked around, taking in the office she had been given that afternoon, then up at Fred, and said, unsteadily, "It's all too much. I feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm going to wake up in my bunk on the Neemah, and find out I was shot by the geth on Haestrom and have been suffering from a fever for the last six months."

"Come on, love," Fred said, taking Tali's arm. "There's a shuttle bay here in the building, and the getta have been keeping the shuttles in perfect order. What say we go back up to the ship for tonight?"

"I ... yes," Tali said weakly. "Back to the ship. Good idea."

Fred slipped an arm around her and guided her through the building to the shuttle bay.

Nat followed, silently watching and listening. He had not anticipated that reaction. He uplinked to the planetary hub, and began sifting through the data on organics, searching for an explanation. The answer came as they were launching one of the Vael People Mover shuttles. Tali-Creator was suffering from receiving too much, too fast. She was not accustomed to space, resources, and facilities on the scale represented by the geth gift. Nat hoped that her bond with Fred would help her adjust as well as the rest of the team already had. He liked Tali-Creator, and wanted her to be happy.

Fred took the copilot seat, and Tali sat in the pilot's, while Nat entered the shuttle and sat in the passenger area. Tali studied the controls a minute, then started up the shuttle and eased it out of its berth. Once clear, she took it straight up, through the opening in the roof, then eased the throttles forward and shot into the sky.

"Fred will help Tali-Creator adjust?" Nat stuttered at Fred.

"I will," Fred stuttered back. "I think she's just overwhelmed. She needs the security of the Normandy for a while longer."

"Our research suggested the same conclusion," Nat stuttered. "Organics do not do well with sudden change, do they?"

"Not particularly," Fred said. "Even when the change is good, if it's sudden, it makes us uncomfortable."

"We submit that Tali-Creator is more than merely uncomfortable," Nat stuttered.

"From what Shepard told me," Fred stuttered, "she had a similar reaction when she first joined the first Normandy. She just needs time to adjust. You and I will make sure she has that time."

"Yes," Nat agreed.

"Are you two plotting behind my back?" Tali asked, laughing.

"Yup," Fred said. "We're scheming, too."

"I knew it," Tali said, laughed, then keyed her mic. "Normandy, this is Tali. Open the hangar door."

"Got it," Joker replied. "Where are you going to fit that shuttle in?"

"Don't worry," Fred said. "I've already told my fighter to transform and stand in the back of the hangar. That'll give us room to park this shuttle where the fighter is."

"If you say so," Joker said, sounding uncertain.

The Normandy's hangar door swung down, and Tali eased the shuttle in, using microbursts of the thrusters to position it directly over the spot the fighter had been in when they went down to the planet, then eased it down onto the deck and began the shutdown routine.

"I wouldn't want to fly it into a war zone," Tali said, "but this shuttle is _nice_."

"I agree," Fred said. "We'll always have the combat cockroach for hot drops, but this would make a nice shuttle to keep around for diplomatic visits."

"Not that we ever get much chance for those," Tali said, while opening the hatch and walking out into the hangar.

"Let me guess," Fred said, following her. "Most of this group's experience has been Klingon diplomacy."

"What?" Tali asked. She turned to give Fred a bemused look. "Is this something from your universe?"

"Not quite," Fred said. "More like, something from a forty-year-old television program."

"Television?" Tali asked.

"Kind of like the vids some companies broadcast on the extranet," Fred said, "except in 2D and they required a dedicated display to view them, because computers hadn't been invented yet."

"Vids in 2D?" Tali mused. "Sounds ... disappointing."

"It would be now," Fred agreed. "Back then, it was far enough out on the leading edge of technology that a lot of _families_ didn't own the required display, let alone individuals."

"And that was only forty years ago?" Tali asked.

"In my universe," Fred said. "Almost two hundred fifty in yours."

"I keep forgetting how quickly humans advanced, once they found those Prothean ruins," Tali said. "Your species adopts and adapts to new technology so quickly, that it's hard to remember that you were trapped in your own system less than a hundred years ago."

"In both universes," Fred agreed.

"So, what _is_ Klingon diplomacy?" Tali asked.

"It's basically, 'See this big gun? Make nice or I'll use it'," Fred said, grinning.

Tali began laughing. Her laughter continued, until she was leaning against Fred for support and hiccuping weakly.

"Was it something I said?" Fred asked.

"The history of the Normandy shows," Nat said, "that the crew of this ship has never been given the opportunity to use the second part of that statement."

Fred snorted, then broke into laughter. "I thought _I_ was the only one who had that problem!"

"No, my love, you aren't," a woman's voice, sensual enough to make Tali stop laughing and take notice, stated.

"Hel?" Fred responded, as a holographic image appeared in front of him. The woman in the image was beautiful. So beautiful that Tali felt a brief surge of desire as she looked at her. Fred smiled happily and reached a hand into the image. "Hel!"

"Yes, beloved," Hel said. "It's me. How goes your search for a way home?"

"We just established a home base," Fred said, "so I can start building a ship."

"You realize, it's been nearly four months," Hel said.

"Nearly ... four months?" Fred squeaked. "It's been ... what, three and a half weeks, Tali?"

"That sounds right, love," Tali said. She walked around the image, took Fred's hand, and looked at Hel. "I – "

Tali's voice choked in her throat when she looked at Hel from in front. While her right side, which she had been looking at originally, was supernaturally beautiful, her left side, from what Tali could see, was decayed and dessicated. In a word, dead.

"It's all right, miss," Hel said, smiling warmly. "I get that reaction a lot from the living. Yes, the left side of my body is, indeed, as dead as roadkill."

"But how?" Tali stammered. "I mean ... how did it happen? How can you live like that? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, dear," Hel said, laughing musically. "I was born this way. You see, I am the goddess of the dead. I rule the realm where everyone who doesn't die in battle goes, which means I'm almost always surrounded by artists, musicians, philosophers, scientists .... and the occasional serial killer, rapist, and kidnapper, although Odin gets most of those, because they usually die in battle. I'm kind of lucky on that score."

"You're a goddess?" Tali asked, confused. "But ... you're married to Fred, right?"

"That's right," Hel said, and laughed. Tali decided she could easily listen to that laugh for hours, it was so musical. "It's a long story, and I'll be happy to tell you when you're here."

"When I'm there," Tali said softly, then laughed. "Every one of you knows, and none of you seem either surprised or unhappy. It's so strange."

"It's like this," Hel said. "We knew what we were in for when we married him. Well, except Miri, maybe, but she was expecting something else entirely. I think Miri's the one we have to thank for opening him up the way he is – getting him over that bitch he was married to before he died. She's not dead yet, by the way. I can't wait to get my hands on her." Hel shook her head. "Anyway, since we know how much love he has to share, and we know that he loves each one of us with every fiber of his being, it's kind of hard to begrudge anyone else a chance to feel that love. And given how cautious he is since the bitch, we know that anyone he falls for is someone worthy of his love."

"He's so easy to love," Tali said, then laughed. "I'm looking forward to meeting you all in person."

"That's good to know," Hel said. "What's your name, miss? It would be rude to call you 'Fred's quarra girlfriend', after all."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Tali said. "My name is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya."

"Nar Rayya?" Hel asked. "Child of Rayya? That's not something I'm used to hearing in quarra names."

"Rayya is the ship I grew up on," Tali said. "Fred says that's not the way it is in your universe, that quarra still live on Rannoch."

"They do," Hel said. "It's a beautiful world. Too hot and dry for my tastes, but beautiful nonetheless."

"Hel?" Fred asked. "I'm sending you a package of equations. Could you pass them to Albert and Paul and ask them to check my math? And maybe Kevin, too? I don't want to end up scattered across a dozen dimensions when I try to get home, after all."

"I'll do that, beloved," Hel said. "I want you back, in one piece and still breathing. Finding you in Helheim would be very disappointing. Not just to me, but to all of us."

"Including me," Tali said, smiling as she watched Fred blush. She giggled and said, teasingly, "He's so cute when he blushes."

"He is, isn't he?" Hel agreed. "Call me when you get a chance, Tali. I want to get to know you."

"I will," Tali said. "It's so ... strange ... to be talking to an actual goddess. My people ... we don't have gods, you know?"

"I know," Hel said. "Don't worry, hon. I don't bite, unless you ask me to." She laughed as Fred's blush grew more intense. "And I don't do any of those other thing people seem to expect of death gods. I prefer my sacrifices to be properly cooked by a real chef, anyway. Medium rare, with just a hint of seasonings." She laughed as Fred finally recovered from his blush and waved a finger at her. "Now that I've suitably unsettled my husband, I'll leave you to take care of him. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Tali."

"I think I can safely promise that," Tali said, laughing. "I'll be calling you soon, Hel. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Tali," Hel said. "Welcome to the family. Fred, you be good to her, understand?"

"I will be," Fred said, drawing Tali into an embrace. "You have my word on that, beloved."

"Then my work here is done," Hel said, laughing musically as she disconnected.

"Wow," Tali said softly. "She's so ... so ... Every one of your wives is different, Fred. But Hel seems as pleasant and at peace with the universe as Krios."

"Krios? At peace with the universe?" Fred asked, surprised. "Does he really strike you that way?"

"Yes," Tali said. "Doesn't he strike you that way?"

"Not really," Fred said. "He reminds me of myself, in a way. You know, that feeling like he has to atone for some unnamed crime he's committed in the past, and so he's doing as much good as he can before he dies?"

"Well, he _is_ an assassin," Tali said. "Maybe he killed someone who didn't deserve it?"

"I suppose that's possible," Fred mused. "Not every assassin is as careful in their choices as Diana is."

"We will be in the AI core," Nat said. "We have much to discuss with EDI, that requires a secure hard link."

"We'll see you in the morning," Tali said. "Thank you, Nat."

"You are welcome, Tali," Nat said. His facial flaps moved into the position that indicated pleasure.

"Talk to you later, Nat," Fred said. "Good night."

"Good night, Fred," Nat said. He walked to the elevator, stepped into it when the doors opened, and vanished from view.

"Now, my love," Fred said, smiling at Tali, "would you rather bunk out here, or closer to the core?"

"Where you are," Tali said, "is close enough to the core for me." She snuggled against Fred and sighed happily. "If this really is a dream, I don't want to wake up."

"Trust me, sweetheart," Fred said, "it's no dream. I have enough experience with dreams to know."

"You do?" Tali asked, as Fred led her to his bunk and lay down with her. "What do you mean?"

"Are you sure you want me to tell you about it now?" Fred asked. "While we're about to go to sleep?"

"I am," Tali said.

"All right," Fred said. "It happened a while back, when Cal was only about a year old, and MJ was maybe two or three months old. One night, Edgar and I ended up trapped in a Dream, with four people from a different universe – a universe that's so far away from ours that we still haven't found a way to get there."

"You said Dream, like there's something different about it," Tali said.

"There was," Fred said. "You see, in our universe, prophetic Dreams happen. And when they do, they are qualitatively different than ordinary dreams. In my Dream, my worst nightmare had come true."

Tali hugged Fred tight, feeling him shiver in her arms as he nuzzled the side of her head.

"What happened, my love?" Tali asked softly.

"In my Dream," Fred said, "I had become global dictator. Or, more specifically, the woman I had been married to before I died became global dictator, with me as her figurehead puppet. My friends, the ones who help me protect Earth and Laputa now, were my stormtroopers, and my children had never been created. The four people who were dragged into my Dream with me had to help me overthrow the dictatorship, before any of us could go home." He sighed. "And Skuld, the Norn of the Future, used the Dream to bring me together with one of those four, so that she would be the mother of a heroine for her world."

"But ... your body is plastic!" Tali protested. "You _can't_ be a father!"

"I know," Fred said. "But somehow, Skuld manipulated the Dream so that not only would I become a father in the Dream, but that Ami's pregnancy would carry over into her world, and she would give birth to a daughter, even though her pregnancy began in a Dream."

"That's impossible!" Tali said.

"Skuld is a goddess," Fred said. "Gods alter reality, within their area of influence, to suit their desires. Since this had to do with the future, it was within Skuld's area of influence."

"So you have a second daughter, in a world you've never even been to?" Tali asked, her voice quavering with disbelief and confusion.

"I do," Fred sighed. "Hopefully, either I or Ami will work out a way to visit each other. Until then, Ami and Setsuna will remain out of my reach."

"That's ... weird," Tali pronounced. "I don't want to work out how many ways it's weird, though." She yawned. "Not tonight. Maybe ... another time." She snuggled under Fred's arm, her head on his chest, and murmured, "G'nite. Love you."

"I love you, too," Fred said softly. "Sweet dreams, my love."

While Tali slept, Fred extended a cable and plugged in to EDI's nearest secure port, then began downloading ship plans to the Normandy's drydock. In the drydock, the geth began work in one of the slips, laying the keel of a new frigate.

**March 30, 2185  
Beyond the Perseus Veil  
Rannoch Orbit**

"All right," Shepard said, "you, Fred and the geth been doing something in this slip for the last month. Now you're ready to show me?"

"That's right," Tali said. "I think you're going to like it."

Tali led Shepard down a corridor, that had been locked so that only she and Fred could access it before, into the control center that opened onto the slip they had been working in nonstop for a month, where Fred was standing, his hands in his lab coat pockets, a grin on his face.

"Now I know you two are up to something," Shepard said. "Care to explain?"

"Oh, it's nothing much," Tali said. "Just another step in our quest to be free of Cerberus. The lights, Fred?"

"Of course," Fred said, as he turned to the main panel, in the center of the window that looked out on the slip, and moved his hands over the computer interface. Lights came on in the slip, and Shepard's eyebrows climbed toward his hairline as they revealed just what had taken so many workers to produce.

"How did you manage this, in only a month?" Shepard asked, the first coherent words to cross his mind.

"It's amazing how many man-hours a single getta represents," Fred said. "Especially when they're interested in the project, and curious about what they're doing. They already had access to all the necessary raw material, and Edgar and I could upload the necessary design changes as we ran into trouble, so there was no delaying for either material shortages or paperwork and dithering."

"Is it ready to fly?" Shepard asked, his eyes still fixed on what he saw through the window.

"All we need to do is figure out how to transfer EDI," Tali said. "She deserves to be on the new ship as much as any of the rest of us do."

"All we have to do is move her blue box, right?" Shepard asked.

"In theory," EDI said, from a nearby terminal. "In practice, I have no record of any such move having been attempted. I do not know if, after the move, I will still be me."

"It all comes down to whether you're willing to risk it," Shepard said. "You're one of my crew, and I don't want to leave you behind, but I understand if you feel the risk is too high."

"You are my commander," EDI said. "I will follow you. Even if it means I am no longer me."

"Give me a little time to build a power supply," Fred said, suddenly. "We'll make sure you stay you."

"What do you mean, Fred?" EDI asked.

"If we hook you up to a new power supply before we disconnect you from the Normandy," Fred said, "then there will never be a gap where damage could occur. It would be like when Mike moved my brain from my old body into the new one. There was never a gap, because he kept it in a life support medium the entire time."

"What about input?" EDI asked. "The time it would take you to move me from the Normandy to the new ship will be the subjective equivalent of years, for me."

"Got it covered," Fred said. "Adding a remote access unit to the power supply design ... there. That does it. You'll be able to access the world through the network, either exonet or getta net, your choice."

"Wait," Shepard said. "You can access the getta network?"

"Of course," Fred said. "They gave me permission when we started working here. They say that my presence in the network provides an interesting dose of chaos, which stirs up new ideas and leads to conclusions that would never have been considered before."

"I can believe that," Shepard said under his breath. He looked at Fred and asked, "So you honestly think you can safely transport EDI?"

"Piece of cake," Fred said, a maniacal grin on his face.

"Uh-oh," Tali said, then laughed. "He looked like that when he told me he'd figured out how to fit a hyperdrive into the new hull."

"That," Shepard gestured through the window, "has one of Fred's mysterious hyperdrives?"

"It does," Tali said. "The theory makes my head swim, and the hardware is just plain bizarre, but Fred insists it works. We're going to take a runabout out later today, so anyone who wants to get an experience of hyperdrive can have the chance."

"A runabout?" Shepard asked.

Tali nodded and led Shepard to the far end of the window, then pointed into the slip. From this position he could see that, in addition to the frigate that took up about a third of the space, there was a smaller ship, about the size of a shuttle, but far more streamlined and with engines large enough to push a much larger craft.

"That's your runabout?" Shepard asked.

"That's it," Tali said, and laughed. "It's not a combat vehicle, according to Fred, which means it only has a pair of axial laser cannons, a GARDIAN suite that's comparable to the original Normandy's, and four particle beam cannons in retracting turrets."

"Not a combat vehicle?" Shepard asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oh yes," Tali said, "and a station in the passenger compartment that allows a passenger to monitor and control all communications and sensors within a thousand kilometers."

"Not a combat vehicle," Shepard said, definitely disbelieving now.

"That's right," Fred called from the far end of the window. "Not a combat vehicle. You could use it as an EW vehicle, but I'd advise against taking it into any real combat."

"With six cannons?" Shepard asked. He just _had_ to know.

"That's for dicey situations," Fred said. "Sometimes even a peaceful diplomatic mission gets into trouble and needs the extra firepower."

"So what do you consider a combat vehicle?" Shepard asked.

"I could build you a few, if you wanted," Fred said. "Normandy's not even really a combat vehicle. She's designed for stealth, not slugging it out with anyone. I continued the same concept with the new ship. It's designed for sneaking into anywhere you need to go, sniping the bad guys once you've identified them, then bugging out before they can draw a bead on you."

"What that means," Tali said, laughing, "is that we moved the Thanix cannons into the wing roots, put a rapid-fire missile bay where the cannons used to be, upgraded the GARDIAN system from infrared to grasers, and installed an EW suite that's more powerful than the one in the runabout. About a thousand times more powerful."

"What's a graser?" Shepard asked.

"Gamma ray laser," Tali said. "I didn't think it was possible, but Fred showed me how it works. He says he uses them as point defense lasers all over Laputa."

"Gamma ray lasers?" Shepard asked. "How effective _are_ they?"

"They can knock a fighter out of the sky at a thousand kilometers," Tali said. "A missile turns into a cloud of vapor at twice that range. If you get in to the range frigates normally operate at, you can slice open another frigate's hull like you were using the Thanix."

"What about reliability?" Shepard asked. "Salarian lasers burn out at twice the speed of anyone else's."

"I'm pretty sure these will last for a very long time," Tali said. "The technology used in them is so different from ours, that I'm not sure, but they look a lot more solid than our laser designs."

"Now would be a very good time to test the runabout," EDI said. "I just received an emergency message for Miranda and the Commander."

"Shit," Shepard swore. "Oriana? Show me."

The nearest terminal lit up, and Oriana's face appeared in the display.

"Miranda. Commander Shepard," Oriana said. "Hopefully you'll never see this. I realized, after the trouble getting to our transport, that there might be trouble in the future, so I'm setting up this message to transmit if anything happens to my family or me. Assuming everything works, you'll have a copy of the household VI logs for the last ten minutes attached to this message. Even if it doesn't work, you're receiving it because I need help. Please find me. I'm recording this on the transport on the way to our new home, so I can't tell you where it is, but the origin data for this message should give you that information. You'll only receive this if the situation is too much for me to handle, so please hurry."

"Is there an attachment?" Shepard asked.

"There is," EDI said. "Shall I play it?"

"Yes."

The display lit up again.

> _A squad of people in Eclipse armor stood over a pair of people that Shepard recognized as Oriana's parents. One of the mercenaries, a salarian in full armor, had a gun at the mother's head._
> 
> _"You'd better hope she gets here soon," the salarian said. "Otherwise, you're going to be leaving a big mess all over your nice pretty carpet."_
> 
> _"Unlike you?" Oriana asked, as she wrapped an arm around the salarian's throat from behind, then snapped his neck. The others opened fire, hitting the dead salarian, who Oriana held in front of her as a shield while she moved between them and her parents._
> 
> _"Enough of this," an asari said, as she shot Oriana's parents. "You're coming with us."_
> 
> _Oriana let out a scream of rage, threw the dead salarian at the other mercenaries, and leaped for the asari's throat. The asari jabbed her with something that looked like a cattle prod, and Oriana fell in a heap._

"Fred, that runabout better be ready to use," Shepard growled. "EDI, call the team. We're going to rescue Oriana."

"Already done," EDI said. "They're assembling at the airlock now."

"Shepard!" Miranda's voice sounded as if it were all she could do to hold back tears.

"I saw," Shepard said. "We're going to rescue her. I'm on my way to the runabout now. EDI can tell you how to get there."

"Thank you, Shepard," Miranda said.

"She's your sister," Shepard said. "That's all the reason I need. Let's go get her back."

"That's Miranda's sister?" Fred asked, his voice filled with wonder. Suddenly, he stiffened and snapped, "Nat! Get your new rifle. I think you're going to need it."

"Ready whenever you are, Commander," Joker said. "I've got to tell you, this runabout is sweet! Fred may claim it's not intended for combat, but it's got more going for it than a fighter! Hell, it's got more going for it than most frigates!"

"Good," Shepard said. "Get familiar with its systems on the way. We're leaving as soon as everyone's aboard."

"No problem, Commander," Joker said. "EDI gave me a VI to help with the housekeeping."

"This way, Commander," Tali said, leading Shepard and Fred to an airlock door. "We'll go straight to the runabout and save about fifteen minutes."

"In vacuum?" Shepard asked.

"You're wearing your omnitool, right?" Tali asked.

"Of course," Shepard said.

"Then it's not a problem," Tali said. While she activated the airlock, Fred and Nat joined them, each with a sniper's rifle slung across his back.

"What in the world?" Shepard asked.

"With one of these," Fred said, "Nat can take down a shuttle in orbit. I'm not quite that good, but that's because I'm used to having multiple points of data to use when targeting. I could hole a cruiser, maybe a frigate."

"What are they?" Shepard asked.

"Particle beam rifles," Fred said. "Some people might call them cannons, but I figure that as long as you can fire it from the shoulder, it's a rifle, not a cannon."

"He's insane," Shepard told Tali.

"Yes, he is," Tali said, and laughed. "And he's _my_ lunatic."

**March 30, 2185  
Amaterasu**

The runabout dropped out of hyperspace, into orbit around Amaterasu. Ravenfield up, the runabout began its descent toward the colony, while Tali worked the EW panel.

"He sent them _here_?" Miranda fumed. "This place is so small, if my father scanned it, he'd find them in a moment!"

"Given that it was Eclipse," Shepard said, "either that's what happened, or the Illusive Man tipped him off. Either way, she's probably already off-world."

"Good guess," Tali said. "According to traffic control, an Eclipse frigate left orbit just fifteen minutes ago, heading for the relay."

"We can catch them before they get there," Joker said. "Just give the word."

"Do it," Shepard said. "If they get to Illium before we catch them, we'll have to hunt down Miranda's father in order to rescue her."

"Doing it," Joker said. "Hyperdrive engaged."

The runabout jumped into hyperspace and made the run to the cluster's relay in less than twenty minutes. Joker kept the Ravenfield up, making the runabout invisible to the relay's garrison, as well as any incoming ships. Tali launched a network of miniature probes, that expanded into a web of six hundred sensors, covering a sphere a full light-hour in diameter, centered on the runabout.

"They won't be expecting us," Shepard told Miranda. "We'll be able to ambush them, keep them from using the relay."

"I'm linked into the turrets," Fred said. "I can take out their engines as soon as they come into range."

"Do it," Miranda snarled. "I want their ship dead in space."

"Got them!" Tali crowed. "The sensor net works! They're thirty minutes out, just dropped below light speed. Feeding Fred and Joker the coordinates now."

"I see them," Joker said. "Moving to intercept."

"Heating up cannons," Fred said. "Ready to take the shot as soon as they come into range."

"We do not believe the sniper's rifle will be necessary aboard the Eclipse vessel," Nat commented.

"Probably not," Shepard agreed. "But I suspect Miranda's going to want us to take care of the cause of this problem as soon as we've rescued Oriana."

"Absolutely," Miranda growled. "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, either for myself or Oriana. We take care of them – both of them – now."

"Coming into range," Fred said. "Firing on their engines now."

The sound of the turrets rotating rumbled through the runabout's hull, followed by a high-pitched whine as the cannons fired. The Eclipse ship's engines flared and exploded, leaving it moving on a ballistic path toward the relay.

"Get us docked before the relay's defense guns blow that ship out of space!" Shepard barked.

"Already on it, Commander," Joker replied calmly. "I suggest we send a couple people with armor out to ... damn it! They're about to launch escape shuttles!"

"On it!" Fred and Tali said in unison. Tali set the GARDIAN system to fire on the engines of the shuttles, while Fred fired on the main ship, jamming its escape system so it could not fire the shuttles free.

"Fred, Nat, come with me," Shepard said. "Miranda will lead the entry team from here. We're going EVA to enter at the other end of the ship."

"Understood," Nat said.

"I'll keep them from getting away," Tali said. "Go!"

Shepard and Nat entered the runabout's airlock, then Fred followed, melting and flowing around the perimeter of the space to fit in with the others.

Shepard stared at Fred, then shook his head and sealed his helmet, muttering, "You are going to tell me about that when we're done here."

Outside of the runabout, Nat and Fred led the way, a short leap to the frigate. Fred paused on the way to the rear of the ship, and used his fingertip laser to spot-weld the shield over the escape shuttles into place.

"There," Fred said. "I jammed it before, but now there's no way it will break free, without burning out the motors."

"I hope our escape system is more reliable," Shepard commented.

"It is," Fred said. "We designed the shield over the escape shuttles to blow off with explosive bolts, rather than retract on swing arms. After all, if you're abandoning ship, there's no point in being neat about it. Besides, fighters use explosives in their ejection systems, so why not use them on something bigger?"

"All right," Shepard said. "Nat, do you see the engineering airlock?"

"Yes," Nat said. He crouched and began hacking the airlock controls. After a minute of work, the airlock opened, and the trio entered.

"Are you docked?" Shepard called.

"Docked and ready to blow their airlock," Miranda replied.

"We're in the engineering lock," Shepard said. "Hit it."

Nat hacked the inner door of the airlock, and the trio faced a storm of gunfire as the doors slid open. Ravenfields blackened around all three as they walked into the mercenaries and clubbed them into submission.

"I don't know who you are," a voice said over the ship's intercom, "but if you don't back off, I start killing prisoners."

"You do that," Miranda said, her voice also carried over the intercom, "and I hunt you down, and take you apart, piece by piece. Give up your prisoners, and you can live to see another contract. Kill them, and you die, slowly and painfully. Make the smart choice."

"Damn it!" the voice swore. "Hartford never said anything about claim jumpers!"

"He never does," Miranda said. "He's all yours. But your prisoners are mine."

"Damn it!" the voice swore. "All right. Come to the command deck."

"Shepard," Miranda called over the radio. "How close are you to the command deck?"

"Checking," Shepard said. "Down one level. Unless they stop shooting at me, you'll get there well before I do."

"I'll keep them busy," Fred said. "You go."

Fred's left arm extended and plugged into a port on an engineering terminal. Suddenly, the mercenaries slammed into the ceiling, then back into the floor. A moment later, the cycle repeated, leaving all the mercenaries in that part of the ship either unconscious or dead. While the mercenaries were being used as ping-pong balls, Shepard made his way to the stairs up, then forward, picking his way past the ship's unoccupied stations, watching and listening for trouble.

"All right," Miranda said, "where's the prisoners?"

"Nat," Shepard whispered into his mic. "If the Eclipse officer looks like she's going to shoot, can you take out her shoulders?"

"Yes," Nat said.

"Good," Shepard said. "Do it. As long as she plays nice, we won't hurt her. But if she tries to shoot any of us, or any prisoner, take out her shoulders."

"Understood," Nat said. He knelt by an unoccupied station, raised his rifle to his shoulder and sighted in on the Eclipse officer.

"I said, where are the prisoners?" Miranda demanded.

"Now I see why you're so interested," the voice – Shepard could now see it was the Eclipse officer that had shot Oriana's parents – said. "You look just like her. I wonder what Hartford would say to having both of you."

"Not bloody much," Miranda snarled. She snapped her machine pistol up and emptied three rounds into the officer's face, as mercenaries suddenly appeared from the shadows.

"Fred, we could use that trick of yours up here," Shepard said. "Right now!"

"Got it covered," Fred said, just a moment after the mercenaries began bouncing between floor and ceiling.

"She's not up here," Miranda said, a touch of panic in her voice. "We need to find her!"

"We'll start with the escape shuttles," Zaeed said. "You go below. They probably have her locked up in the hold."

Zaeed and Krios walked past Shepard, as Zaeed produced a tool that looked like a short crowbar. Shepard tilted his head curiously at Zaeed as he walked past.

"Universal key," Zaeed said, laughing. "I've had to crack open escape pods before."

"Have at it," Shepard said. "Just try to leave them in good enough shape to salvage."

"Always," Zaeed laughed.

Shepard fell in with Miranda, leaving Krios and Nat with Zaeed. Walking down the stairs, weapons at the ready, they came upon the sight of the mercenaries that had survived Fred's first pong game, laying flat on the deck, whimpering with pain. One of them, a salarian, turned his eyes on them and gasped out, "Please ... make him ... stop. Too ... much."

The salarian's plea ended with a sharp "crack" as his rib cage collapsed under his weight.

"How high did you crank the gravity?" Shepard asked as he and Miranda made their way to the hold.

"I figured fifteen would be about right," Fred replied. "Even a krogan isn't going to be doing much under that kind of pressure."

"No, I suppose it wouldn't," Shepard agreed. "Keep it up. Not as much chance of damaging ship components this way."

"That's what I figured," Fred said. "Playing pong with the mercs is fun, but there's too much chance of one of them hitting something I might want to salvage later. This way, I keep them under control and preserve the salvage at the same time."

"I'm glad he's on our side," Miranda said softly.

"So am I," Shepard agreed. He studied the door he and Miranda had just arrived at, then called over the radio, "Fred, as long as you're in the system, would you mind unlocking the hold?"

"No problem," Fred said.

A moment later, the door clicked and slid back, revealing the hold. Shepard and Miranda entered the hold, and discovered a complete lack of mercenaries.

"Something's not right here," Shepard said. He moved to starboard, while Miranda moved to port. After they swept through the hold, and found no opposition, they began searching shipping containers.

"Red sand," Miranda called, after looking into a container.

"Weapons mods," Shepard called back.

"Eezo," Miranda called.

"More red sand," Shepard called.

"Salarian," Miranda called.

"Batarian," Shepard called.

"Hum – Oriana!" Miranda exclaimed. Shepard joined her, as Miranda lifted Oriana from the crate she had been packed in. Miranda scanned Oriana, and studied the outcome on her omnitool's display. "She's been sedated, but I don't see anything else. Once we get her home, she should be all right."

"Good," Shepard said. "Fred, Nat, can you two release the security on any datafiles here?"

"Yes," Nat said.

"On it," Fred said.

"Already done," Edgar said. "Hey! I needed something to occupy my time while Fred was playing 'crush the mercenaries'.

"That works," Shepard said. "We'll get Oriana out of here, and put in an anonymous call to the relay's security staff. That should keep Eclipse busy for a while."

"Not just Eclipse," Edgar said. "The files give the names of several of their clients. The slave traders alone should keep them entertained."

"The files won't self-destruct?" Miranda asked.

"Already taken care of," Edgar said. "Cal writes much better security software than these people used. The cops will have a field day with these files."

"I have her," Miranda said, holding Oriana in her arms. "Let's get out of here."

"You heard her, people," Shepard said. "Everybody back to the runabout."

"On our way," Zaeed said.

"Acknowledged," Nat said.

"Just a sec while I cover our tracks," Fred said. "OK, got it. On my way."

Shepard and Miranda alternated carrying Oriana back to the runabout. As they reached the airlock, they saw Nat and Zaeed crouched on either side, covering their retreat. With no mercenaries in any condition to be shooting at them, the cover wasn't urgently required, but Shepard was pleased to see that they were keeping operational discipline regardless.

###

The runabout dropped out of hyperspace in Rannoch orbit, and descended to the headquarters building. Once it was parked in one of the shuttle slots, Shepard carried Oriana to Miranda's office and placed her on an overstuffed sofa, while the other members of the team scattered to their usual work.

"She'll be all right," Miranda repeated, like a mantra, as she paced her office and watched Oriana.

"She'll be all right," Shepard said. "You won't do her any good, wearing yourself out. You won't be in any condition to take on your father or the Illusive Man, either."

"Damn," Miranda muttered, sinking into her desk chair. "I hate it when you're right, you know that?"

"Good," Shepard said, smiling. "I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't piss you off occasionally."

"Ow ...," Oriana moaned. She pushed herself up, winced, and looked around. "Office, no apparent ... Shepard! Where's Mir – "

Miranda interrupted Oriana's question by moving in and embracing her. Oriana returned the embrace, for about ten seconds, then gently pushed Miranda away.

"They're dead, aren't they?" Oriana asked softly.

"That's the way it looked," Miranda said. "I'm sorry."

"Amaterasu police report they were found dead in their apartment," EDI said. "and have listed you as the primary suspect. Apparently, the household VI's logs were erased before the mercenaries left. If you had not sent us a copy with your emergency message, we would not have known what happened or where to look."

"Send them a copy of the log, EDI," Shepard said. "Oriana doesn't need to be pursued for murders she didn't commit."

"It's going to be enough when I commit the murder I plan to," Oriana growled. "I want to know who hired them, and why. And then I want to make sure he pays for their deaths."

"Our father hired them," Miranda hissed. "Apparently, he thinks you can be salvaged."

"Salvaged?" Oriana asked, her voice rapidly rising as her outrage took hold. "Salvaged? Like I'm some piece of equipment? They killed my parents! I'll show him salvaged!"

"We'll show him," Miranda said. "He didn't learn when I left him, or when I took you away from him. I guess there's only one thing left to do."

"When you took me away from him?" Oriana asked. "I know you're my sister, and that I was adopted, but what are you talking about?"

"Our father," Miranda said. She sighed and sat beside Oriana, put her face in her hands, and let out a long, heavy sigh, then raised her head and looked at Oriana. "I had always hoped to shelter you from this, but he – they – made sure I couldn't."

"They?" Oriana asked.

"Our father," Miranda said, "and the Illusive Man."

"Man," Oriana said, smiling weakly, "when you make enemies, you don't fool around, do you?"

"I used to work for the Illusive Man," Miranda said. "I quit. He doesn't like it when people quit. He's like our father, in that respect."

"All right," Oriana said, "why don't you start from the beginning?"

**March 31, 2185  
SSV Normandy (3)  
SSV Normandy, Inc., Drydock  
Rannoch**

"So, why is it you're hunting Hartford?" the dark-haired woman in the holographic image asked. "I can see why you're hunting the Illusive Man, but why the other?"

"He's the one who hired the mercs in the video I sent," Fred said.

"Just making sure," the woman said. "I assume you already took care of the mercs?"

"Got them before they could get to their cluster's relay," Fred said. "Yeah, they use some weird tech in this universe. No hyperdrives, so if you want to travel anywhere outside your local star cluster, you have to use these ancient artifacts that produce flat-space tunnels and squirt your ship down the tunnel like a bullet through a gun."

"Yeah, that's weird, all right," the woman agreed. "All right, if I were doing this job, I'd start by studying his office, find out what the security is like. If I could get in as one of his staff, I'd do that. How much time do you have to devote to this job?"

"Given Miranda and Oriana's state of mind?" Fred asked. "I'm surprised we're not already half-way there."

"And, of course, they're going to want to be the ones making the kill," the woman sighed. "That complicates things immensely. You may have to give up on treating this as an assassination, and just go in the way you usually do. Just try to avoid destroying any of the buildings around his, OK?"

"Diana!" Fred protested, then laughed. "You know me so well. Shepard's like that, too, you know?"

"Shepard?" Diana asked.

"The guy in charge of this mob," Fred said. "Decent enough, way too fixated on the Reapers. I'm building him a few ships. That should take care of his Reaper problem."

"Reapers?" Diana asked. "What's that?"

"Giant homicidal robots," Fred said, "that sweep through the galaxy every 50,000 years and slaughter every space-faring species, down to the last pizza delivery guy."

"I'd say he has good reason to be fixated," Diana said. "Especially if they're on their way right now."

"They are," Fred said. "He and some of his crew killed one a couple years ago, and I helped them kill a second one a little over a month ago."

"Lovely," Diana said, shaking her head. "I swear, the spell those bozos use must be designed to dump you into whatever the biggest possible trouble could be in your target universe."

"It sure seems that way," Fred said. "So basically, you're saying that unless we find some way to keep Miranda and Oriana out of it, we're stuck going in, guns blazing?"

"That's about it," Diana said. "I'd feel better about it if you had Alex or Irene with you, but if the people you're with are good, you'll be OK."

"If Alex or Irene were with me, the neighboring buildings _would_ come down!" Fred protested, laughing.

"Fred?" Tali called from the door. "Shepard's ready."

"Sorry to cut this short, Diana," Fred said. "Looks like we're about to go in, guns blazing. Too bad you won't get to meet Krios. You'd like him."

"Have fun," Diana said, smiling. She turned toward Tali and waved. "So you must be Tali. Try to keep all his pieces together, OK? His wives aren't the only ones who care that he returns home intact."

"I'll try," Tali said. "As long as he doesn't go running into battle in nothing but his lab coat, he should be OK."

"He's still doing that, huh?" Diana asked, laughing. "Well, his lab coat is made of MacManusite, so it's better than the alternatives."

"That's true," Tali said. "He's replaced my envirosuit with MacManusite, so I know the feeling of safety."

"You'll be all right," Diana said. "And Fred, if you think I'd like Krios, introduce us the next time you phone."

"Will do," Fred said, laughing. "Thanks for the advice."

"Any time," Diana said. "That's why I'm a Knight, remember?"

Fred nodded, and the display cut off.

"Any idea who we're going after first?" Fred asked as he moved to join Tali.

"Hartford, I think," Tali said. "Joker's complaining about how every single Normandy's shakedown has been a combat cruise, and why should this one be any different?"

"And he wouldn't have it any other way," Fred laughed. "He may try to deny it, but he loves extreme piloting. I heard about that drop on Ilos. I'll bet he rode that high for months."

"Right up until the Collectors took the Normandy from him," Tali agreed.

The spacedock's docking tube was linked to the new ship's main airlock, and the last of the worker geth were on their way out as Fred and Tali arrived. Nat greeted them at the entrance to the docking tube.

"Tali," Nat said. "Shepard-Commander is ready for launch. We are the last to arrive."

"Well then," Fred said, "let's get this show on the road."

"This show?" Nat asked. "I did not realize we were doing a performance."

"It's a human idiom," Tali explained, after snorting with amusement at Fred. "I'll explain once we're at our stations."

"That's the last of them, Commander," Joker said over the intercom as the airlock sealed behind them. "Docking collar is retracting, Normandy is free."

"Ahead slow, Joker," Shepard said. "Use maneuvering thrusters only until we're clear of the dock."

"Aye, aye," Joker replied.

###

"This is getting to be something of a habit," Shepard started, his voice carried on the intercom throughout the ship. "This is the third ship named Normandy, and the first with no entanglements to any other organization. That means we are free to pursue the Reapers, and to bring all the power that we, and our friends and allies, can bring to the fight. We already know the Citadel is doing everything in its power to deny that the Reapers exist, so we can't rely on support from them. We also know that Cerberus wants to mine the Reapers for technology, to use in pursuit of their goals. After today, that should no longer be a problem. Right now, the only people outside this ship that we can rely on are the rachni and the geth. Both of them have reasons to hate the Reapers that go far beyond mere fear of extinction. The Reapers tried to turn both of them into mindless slaves. They are our friends. That's enough reason for us to fight at their side. But more than that, the Reapers tried to enslave them. We wouldn't tolerate slavery when the batarians do it, and we won't tolerate it when the Reapers do it. We stopped Sovereign. We stopped Harbinger. We killed two Reapers. It doesn't matter how many more there are out there, because we will stop them all. The galaxy, whether it knows it or not, is depending on us for its survival. We are this galaxy's defenders. We won't let them down. Joker, take us out."

"Aye, aye, sir," Joker said. "Jumping to hyperspace in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... jump."

###

"At least he warned us," Rupert said.

"I barely felt the jump," Garrus said, chuckling.

"This new technology," Rupert said, "how are we supposed to trust it? For all I know, it could turn us inside out while I'm cooking, and wouldn't that be a mess?"

"So why did you stay with us, instead of going back to Cerberus?" Garrus asked.

"Someone needs to make sure you get decent meals," Rupert said. "Besides, I saw what the Illusive Man did to Agent Lawson and her sister. Family's the only thing that matters. I thought Cerberus understood that. I'm not too proud to admit when I'm wrong."

"We're glad to have you along," Garrus said, extending a hand to Rupert. "Tali's especially going to be happy to know you're still with us. She was raving for days over that chowder you made her."

"Glad to know I could make her happy," Rupert said. "She's a good kid."

"I'd better get to the guns and see what kind of mess Fred made of them," Garrus said, grumbling good-naturedly.

###

"Waveform is clean," Nat said, his voice and face flaps indicating mild surprise. "This reactor's power is as smooth as fuel cell power."

"We're using isolation transformers to smooth out the waveform," Tali said.

"We use radiant power," Nat said, "because it is more compact than turbines. Is that why you and Fred used it here?"

"That's right," Tali said. "We're already shielding and cooling the reactor with a Ravenfield, so just feeding the power into the ship made more sense than installing turbines and dumping the power from the field. Instead, we dump the power from the Ravenfield into a capacitor bank that's as large as the Normandy 1, and draw off that through an isolation transformer."

"What about the weapons?" Nat asked.

"Their power feeds are direct from the field," Tali said, "with supplemental power from the capacitor bank. They'll never run short. We calculated that even with every weapon firing at maximum output, and no one firing back at us, we'll still have at least three times the power we need to run every system on the ship."

"And if someone is firing back at us?" Nat asked.

"We'll have more power than we know what to do with," Tali said. "If the combat gets too intense, we may have to shut down the reactor so we don't overload the grid."

"We may have to shut down the reactor," Nat said, his facial flaps indicating total surprise. "Rewriting personal emergency protocols now. We have never been on a ship that required shutting down the reactor during combat."

"We should only have to do that if we're going toe-to-toe with a Reaper, though," Tali said. "Or if we're fighting a fleet of normal ships."

"Our capacitor bank is that large?" Nat asked, still surprised.

"It is," Tali said. "You weren't there while the workers were installing it, but I'll take you down to the capacitor deck later, so you can see for yourself."

"Aye," Kenneth Donelly said. "It's truly a sight to behold. I've had to learn all new systems to manage it."

"At least all you had to learn is where the heavy cables are," Gabriella Daniels shot back. "You should try learning this new hyperdrive. It's a complete departure from our old drive system."

"We suspect they should get a room," Nat commented to Tali. "That is what Fred would say, is it not?"

Tali sputtered for a moment, then laughed, "You've been extremely successful at studying humans. Yes, that's exactly what he would say."

"We thought so," Nat said calmly. "Fred told Joker that EDI doesn't have pigtails, so he couldn't steal her ribbons. It took some time, but we found a reference that explained it. Studying human courtship behavior is fascinating. There are so many contradictory behaviors, it is hard to believe they all come from the same species."

"You ...," Tali started, then asked, "How much time did you devote to this?"

"We spent a standard week studying all the references we could find," Nat said. "It was a useful activity to pursue while supervising the forming of the framing members."

Tali glanced over toward Kenneth and Gabby's stations, and noticed that Gabby's face was crimson, while Kenneth was focused on his station, muttering something under his breath.

###

"How's it look, EDI?" Fred asked. He was working in a lab at the top of the ship, rearward of Shepard's cabin.

"So far, everything is running smoothly," EDI replied. "Joker is testing the new ship's responses, which will also help us test the function of the dampers, but so far, no one has complained of shifting or disorientation. I believe we are ready."

"Good," Fred said. "Tell Shepard." He grinned. "I can't wait to see his face when I join the team on planet."

"You just want to play with your Valkyrie," EDI teased, before winking out.

###

"All systems test optimal," EDI announced, popping up beside Shepard at the galaxy map.

"Thank you," Shepard said. "All right, then, let's take care of Miranda's father."

"Hartford Industries headquarters is on Elysium," EDI said. "There is likely to be trouble with security."

"That's an advantage to being a Spectre," Shepard said. "The only security we're likely to have trouble with is company guards."

"If you say so," EDI said, her voice and color indicating her uncertainty.

"We'll see when we get there," Shepard said. "Joker, take us to Elysium."

"How soon do you want us there?" Joker asked.

"How soon can we get there?" Shepard asked.

"If this is right," Joker said, "we'll be there in about an hour."

"About an hour?" Shepard asked, surprised. "We just left Rannoch a half hour ago."

"That's right," Joker said. "We can still take the relays, so we can get to Illium in just a few minutes. Then we take hyperspace from Illium, since the Elysium relay is still locked out by Elysium security."

"All right, then, let's do it," Shepard said. "Keep the Ravenfield up when we arrive. We don't want anyone noticing us."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker said. "On our way."

**March 31, 2185  
Skyllian Verge  
Elysium  
Headquarters, Hartford Bioengineering, Inc.**

"Here we are, Father," Miranda snarled, walking into Mr. Clarence Hartford's office with her pistol leveled on him.

"You wanted me," Oriana snarled as she entered the office a few feet behind Miranda, holding a shotgun as she crossed the room. "Here I am."

"So I see," Hartford said calmly, not bothering to rise from his seat behind his desk. "And you're as much a disappointment as your sister." He pressed a button on his desk. "Luckily, I didn't waste my time waiting for either of you to come to your senses."

Both Miranda and Oriana were suddenly surrounded by black, as their Ravenfields flared under a chain of rapid-fire rockets. An armored figure, small enough that she couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen, stepped into the room from a side door near the desk. She was carrying a rocket launcher, that was still smoking from the rockets it had launched. As she walked to the desk, she slapped in a new power cell.

"What do you want me to do with them, Daddy?" the figure asked.

"You bastard!" Miranda snarled. "You created _another_ plaything for your arrogance?"

"You murderous son of a bitch!" Oriana screamed, and opened fire with her shotgun. A barrier sprang up in front of the desk, blocking the shots.

"I will have my heir," Hartford stated calmly. "You could have been that heir, but you threw it away. Your sister could have been that heir, but you kidnapped her and brainwashed her to hate me."

"You did that all by yourself, you bastard," Oriana snarled, "when your mercenaries murdered my parents!"

"Oh yes, that," Hartford said. "You have no idea how inconvenient that was. The paperwork involved in convincing Amaterasu security that I had no involvement in the killings was, to say the least, headache-inducing."

"Inconvenient?" Oriana asked, staring at Hartford in shock. "Headache-inducing? Your thugs murdered my parents, and you're complaining about _paperwork_? You don't like the _headache_? Miranda was wrong. You're not just a selfish bastard, you're _evil_!"

"There you go," Hartford said to the girl beside him. "If you eliminate these two, I'll make sure your birthday party is a good one."

The girl didn't bother saying anything as she opened fire with the rocket launcher. Miranda looked at Oriana, who nodded back, and the two moved to flank the desk, ignoring the rockets as they hit their Ravenfields and fell to the floor before detonating.

"So, did you bother to tell her that we're her sisters?" Miranda asked. "That we're her _twins_?"

"You're nothing more than waste material," Hartford said calmly, as beside him, the girl ran her rocket launcher dry, tossed it aside, and took her assault rifle off her back. "You two are failed experiments, in my attempts to create the perfect heir."

"So that means she's not your daughter, either," Oriana growled. "She's nothing more than an experiment, too."

"I am not!" the girl yelled, spraying Oriana with bullets. "I'm his daughter! I am!"

"If you're his daughter," Miranda asked, "where's your mother? He didn't bother to tell you, did he?"

"Tell me what?" the girl asked. "Daddy, what are they talking about?"

"Nothing you need concern yourself with," Hartford said. "All you need to be concerned with is performing satisfactorily."

"See?" Oriana asked. "You're not his daughter. He created you in a lab, the same way he created us. You're nothing more than a product to him."

"No!" the girl screamed, and emptied an entire clip into Oriana's field. "He's my Daddy!"

"He's your creator," Oriana said. "The same way he's my creator, and Miranda's creator. He created us in a petri dish, so that he could mold us into perfect heirs, without the interference of a mother who might teach us about things like compassion and love."

"As long as you perform, he rewards you, isn't that right?" Miranda asked. "It's not enough that you're good, you have to do as he tells you, or he won't pay attention to you. Everything you ever got from him was a reward for doing as he said. And if you failed in anything, he took something away from you, didn't he?"

The girl's gunfire switched from Oriana to Miranda. "How did you know that?"

"That's what he did to me," Miranda said, "before I woke up and got away from him. I didn't believe he'd do it to someone else, though. Not until I found Oriana."

"Who you kidnapped when she was an infant," Hartford stated. "I didn't believe you'd be so foolish as to return to the scene of your crime, though."

" _Her_ crime?" Oriana demanded. "You had my parents murdered, and you have the nerve to accuse _her_ of committing a crime?"

"The death of that couple was not my intention," Hartford stated. "The mercenaries were only contracted to collect you. Killing was not in the contract."

"You have _me_!" the girl said. "Why did you bother with _her_? You just said they were _waste material_!"

"I don't like to leave loose ends," Hartford said calmly. "Now, hurry up and finish them off."

"Yes," Miranda said. "Finish us off, so we can't tell you about how a real father doesn't treat his daughter like a genetic experiment, or how a real father doesn't demand that his daughter perform tasks that aren't suitable for children. Finish us off so we don't have the chance to tell you how Oriana grew up happy and loved, with parents who cared for her more than their own lives, and a big sister who watched over her from a distance to make sure she was safe. After all, if we told you about things like that, you might ask why your father treats you like property, instead of a person."

"Ignore them!" Hartford snapped. "They're trying to confuse you! Kill them!"

"They're not confusing me," the girl said slowly. "They're not confusing me at all."

She swung her assault rifle to point at Hartford. Suddenly, she spasmed and fell to the floor, her back arched to the breaking point as she convulsed, then lay still.

"Looks like I'll have to start again," Hartford commented. "Oh, well."

"You son of a bitch!" Miranda screamed. She opened fire with her pistol, while Oriana opened fire with her shotgun. "Now, Fred!"

The window behind the desk suddenly shattered, as Fred's fighter, in its battroid configuration, rose into view and reached in to grab Hartford, who was distracted by his attempts to duck behind his desk and hide from the gunfire.

"Hello, _Dad_ ," Fred's voice, filled with hatred, growled from the robot's loudspeakers. "I hope you enjoy the trip down. It's a lot faster than the journey up."

The robot turned away from the building, holding Hartford in its hand, and let go. Hartford's scream vanished into the distance as he fell.

Miranda and Oriana knelt over the girl. Miranda unfastened the girl's helmet and gently slid it off her head while Oriana supported her shoulders.

"Too late," Oriana murmured, looking into the girl's sightless eyes, noting the piece of tongue that fell to the floor when Miranda took the helmet off, the blood that coated her lips and cheeks, and the smell of ozone and burned flesh.

"We can't even revive her," Miranda said sadly. "The bastard must have installed a control chip that was powerful enough to fry her brain."

"We can make sure the Illusive Man pays," Oriana said. "This is the kind of madness he profits from."

"Yes," Miranda said, rising to her feet. "We'll make sure he pays." She activated her radio. "Shepard, did you find his lab?"

"I did," Shepard called back. "There's enough here to make him fry, both under Alliance law and under Citadel law."

"We're done up here," Miranda said. "Let's get out of here."

"Understood," Shepard said. "Everyone back to the runabout. Tali, Nat, make sure Elysium police get these files."

"Roger, Commander," Tali said. "We're on it."

"Want a lift, ladies?" Fred asked, extending a hand into the office.

"I thought that was a single-seater," Miranda said, smiling weakly.

"It is," Fred said. "But I can hold one of you in each hand."

"I think we'll take the elevator," Oriana said. "I'm not quite ready for that much excitement."

"Your loss," Fred laughed. "See you back aboard." His robot transformed back into a fighter and headed for space.

###

"We have news for you, Shepard-Commander," Nat's voice announced from the ship's intercom.

"What is it, Nat? Anything we need to worry about?" Shepard asked. Nat never bothered him when he was at the galaxy map, so it must be something big.

"We received confirmation upon return to the ship," Nat said. "The first of our new Companion platforms has just gone operational. We can begin to receive Pilgrims."

"That's good news," Shepard said. "Does Tali know?"

"We have informed her," Nat said. "She is prepared to inform the flotilla of our readiness to receive Pilgrims."

"Tali?" Shepard asked. "How are we going to do this? I doubt the Admiralty Board will be willing to send Pilgrims to Rannoch."

"My message will tell the Admiralty Board that I have found a planet that is willing to accept help from Pilgrims," Tali said, "and has technology they are willing to share in exchange for that help."

"True," Shepard said, smiling, "but vague on the details. That should do it. Good job."

"I'll let you know when the first Pilgrims are ready to meet us," Tali said.

"Here's hoping it won't be until after we've taken care of the Illusive Man," Shepard said.

"I doubt that will be a problem," EDI said. "We have pinpointed the Illusive Man's most likely location, based on communications traffic and the movement of resources that Cerberus makes the most heavy use of. Since our departure from Cerberus, there has been a massive increase in certain operations, which indicate that Cerberus is most likely attempting to build a fleet to take on the Reapers without our assistance. A fleet they can then use to dominate the galaxy."

"Only if we let them," Shepard said. "Give Joker the coordinates. Let's get the bastard before he can start a war."

###

Miranda and Oriana sat in Miranda's quarters, looking out the window into space, holding hands.

After some time, Oriana asked softly, "Was he like that when you were a child?"

"He was," Miranda said. "I never expected him to be so cold as to murder her, though. I ... did we do the right thing, Oriana? Was there another way to stop him, one that would not have ended with her dying like that?"

"I don't know," Oriana said. "I wish I did." She looked at Miranda and said, "Here I thought you'd have the answer to that question, you know? I mean, being the big, tough Cerberus operative had to have given you some kind of perspective, right?"

"I believed in them," Miranda said. "I believed that they were making a better world for humanity. It wasn't until Shepard came along that I began to see just what kind of world they were making, and it wasn't the kind of world I wanted. Not for you, not for anyone."

"What about you, Miranda?" Oriana asked.

"I'm a monster," Miranda said softly. "I'm a monster, who doesn't belong in the world I wanted to make for you. I believed that I could help create that world, but I don't belong in it."

"That's not true," Oriana said, turning to face Miranda. "You are not a monster. You are my big sister, who loves me, protects me, and watches over me – and who has watched over me my entire life. A monster wouldn't do that. So don't you dare call yourself one. Or I'll have to spank you."

Miranda stared at Oriana for a moment, shocked. Then she began to giggle. Oriana watched her for a moment, then joined in the giggling. The two fell into each other's arms, laughing hysterically.

Outside the window, the blue glow of hyperspace shone on the twins, laughing in each other's arms. In Fred's quarters, in the rear half of the top deck of the ship, the same blue light shone through the skylight over his bed, where Fred and Tali lay, looking up at hyperspace.

"Are you serious?" Tali asked, her voice betraying surprise and curiosity.

"Totally," Fred said. "I've locked out the higher levels of hyperspace, until we're sure the ship can take the stress of these levels. Joker's running us at the highest of the blue levels right now. I'll unlock the green levels after we finish the Illusive Man. I figure we'll have worked our way up through the red levels by this time next week." He paused thoughtfully, then added, "Assuming nothing happens to interfere with the schedule, that is."

"Do the colors match what we see when we're in them?" Tali asked.

"Not really," Fred said. "Most of the time, hyperspace looks the way it does now. The color codes are for danger levels, if something goes wrong with your drive. Every species with a hyperdrive had its own code for the different levels their drives could access. I just combined them all into one universal chart, and gave the chart the same color code I use for system security levels. Since then, everyone's adopted my chart."

"So we're at Blue 9 now?" Tali asked.

"That's right," Fred said. "Our top speed here is 19,683 times the speed of light."

"And this is only blue levels," Tali mused. "Does anyone use red levels? Really?"

"War ships and couriers," Fred said. "There's this guy I know, used to be a pizza delivery guy, convinced me that it was worth my while to build him a ship that could run in the red, so he could work as a courier. He made enough to pay off the loan in less than a month, and has been earning enough since then that I could retire comfortably just off my percentage of the company. Only problem is, if I did that, I'd be bored."

"How fast does his ship go?" Tali asked.

"We only go up to nine factors deep in any level," Fred said. "So when he's going all out, his top speed is ... really damned fast. I'm not sure there's a convenient name for the multiple he's operating at."

Edgar projected 3.4116929758866750127553491474623e+28173 against the skylight, in brilliant red numbers. Tali stared at it for a minute, trying to take it in, then shook her head and looked at Fred.

"You mean to tell me that your courier friend is flying at that many times the speed of light?" Tali asked.

"Pretty close," Fred said. "That's how many dimensions are in the hyperspace band he operates in. The multiple of c is based on the number of dimensions, so it's pretty close to that, but the math is a bit more involved."

"How is that possible?" Tali asked.

"It's all a matter of how many dimensions are in that particular level of hyperspace," Fred said. "Every band has a baseline level, where the top speed is the speed of light, just like it is in normal space. However, each band has a different stepping rate. The blue bands are a simple power of normal space. So the number of dimensions in Blue 9 is three to the ninth power. The green bands are a power of the blue bands. So, the number of dimensions in Green 9 is three to the ninth to the ninth. The yellow bands are a power of the green, and so on. As you can imagine, losing your hyperdrive becomes exponentially more catastrophic as your operating band rises, which is why most commercial shipping operates in the blue and green bands."

"So the power requirements aren't that much different?" Tali asked.

"No," Fred said. "Not that much different at all. The primary power requirement is for the transition, and it costs the same to make the transition, whether you're jumping to Blue 1 or Red 9. Same for the thrusters while you're in hyperspace. Just like with your drives, a ship uses its main drives for motive power in hyperspace, so if you were particularly insane, you could jump to Red 9 and then shut down your engines and just sit there, watching the lights and shapes go by. Most companies that own ships that can do that try to weed out anyone who's likely to do that, though. People who spend a lot of time piloting in hyperspace tend to come out of it ... changed. We've had better luck, especially with the higher order hyperdrives, with ships that don't let the pilot see directly outside. Viewing hyperspace through a data display seems to mitigate the weirdness factor."

"I can imagine," Tali said. "Even at this level, there's something about it that tugs at my brain."

"Should I close the shutter?" Fred asked.

"Don't you feel it?" Tali asked.

"Not especially," Fred said. "But then again, I'm already weirder than this. Remember, this is the band I work with when I'm creating MacManusite. It's also the band that my pockets exist in."

"How did that happen, anyway?" Tali asked. "Did you deliberately create those pockets?"

"No," Fred said. "It just sort of happened as a byproduct of all my work with hyperspatial objects."

"Dad's not kidding," Edgar said. "The first time he reached into his pocket and pulled out a minigun, he kind of freaked out. Luckily, it didn't last long, since we were in the middle of fighting Backblast at the time."

"Backblast?" Tali asked.

"He was a criminal back home," Fred said. "A human with the ability to manifest bolts of fire from his hands, without using spells, biotics, or an omnitool."

"You're kidding," Tali said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"No joke," Edgar said. "Look!"

Edgar projected a holographic display of a man in blue jeans and a DSS t-shirt, sitting at a table in a bar, with a pair of men in leather pants and vests, who sat together as if they were lovers. On stage was a krogan-sized man wearing a poodle skirt and a pink angora sweater, singing something about being "Bobby's Girl".

> _"Fucking faggot!" the man in the t-shirt screamed, jumping to his feet and pointing at the man on stage. Suddenly, he was surrounded in a sheath of flames, and a bolt of fire blasted the man on stage. The splash of fire from the impact ignited the stage, the tables around the stage, and several men who had been enjoying the music._
> 
> _The two men who had been sitting with the flaming man jumped up and ran toward the stage, grabbing tablecloths from their own table and another as they passed, and wrapped the cloths around two of the victims, attempting to put the fire out. The krogan-sized man, now naked, stalked off the stage toward the flaming man, who was now randomly firing blasts of flame around the bar, still screaming "Faggots!" as he did so._
> 
> _"That was my best sweater," the big man growled, as he drew his hand back and punched the flaming man, hard enough to send him flying backward through the wall of the bar._
> 
> _At another table, a tall, slender blond man and a Japanese woman had been sitting and enjoying the show, along with a Hispanic man, who looked as if he were about to implode from embarrassment. The blond man rose to his feet and held his hand up, and a barrier suddenly appeared, holding up the ceiling of the bar, while the Japanese woman and the Hispanic man began herding people out of the bar through the front door and the fire exit._
> 
> _While they were helping people out of the burning bar, another blast of fire came through the hole, followed by the man who had started the blaze, flying on a jet of flame. The big man saw him coming, and met him with a double-fisted slam that drove him into the floor, face-first. The couple who had been trying to put out the burning victims began carrying bodies out of the building._
> 
> _"I could use a little help here, Mike!" the big man yelled, when the burning man flared up, incinerating the floor around his head._
> 
> _"Damn it, Jim!" the blond yelled back. "I'm a doctor, not a superhero!" Then he pointed at the burning man, and a second barrier appeared, as a bubble around his head. The flames inside the barrier quickly died, and the burning man began punching the barrier, as if attempting to break through it._
> 
> _"Here," Jim growled. "Let me help you with that." He sank his fist into the burning man's abdomen, driving the air out of his lungs._
> 
> _The burning man fell to the floor, his face turning blue, then gray, as he passed out. Around him, the leather-clad couple continued to carry dead and injured bodies out of the bar, while the flames spread to take in the whole building._

"Robert James Morgan," Fred said, "AKA Backblast. A freelance DSS operative who played the part of a supervillain, in order to give the government justification for passing ever more repressive laws. The half-ogre is Jim Cole, or, as he is known when on stage, Prissy. The couple in leather are Joseph Smith and Benjamin Young. They were a couple of paramedics in the city fire department. The blond is Mike Gryphon. He's my best friend, and my doctor. The Japanese woman with him is Atsuko Hayashibara. At the time of that incident, she was his fiance. The man helping Atsuko herd people out of the bar is Robert Graves. Actually, it's Roberto Sanchez, but his parents changed their name to Graves after the State Security Act of 1976 was implemented. They figured it would be safer to have a name that blended in with the Anglos. He and Jim got married after they moved to Laputa."

"That was the night the Club duWash burned to the ground," Edgar said. "Unfortunately, the building it was in was so old that its sprinklers couldn't keep up with the spread of the flames. Especially given how many places Backblast hit during his rampage."

"Mike killed him, right?" Tali asked.

"No," Fred said, shaking his head. "Mike hadn't figured out the second part of Mordin's philosophy back then. He turned him over to the police, who turned him over to DSS, who 'lost' him en route to their regional prison. No, Backblast didn't die until he made the mistake of killing innocent people in Laputa, during a DSS assault. Even supervillains need to breathe something thicker than vaccuum."

"Too bad," Tali said. "He should have died sooner. What was his problem, anyway?"

"His name was Robert," Fred said. "A common nickname for Robert is Bobby."

"You mean," Tali asked, shock in her voice, "he blew up that bar because of a song?"

"That's right," Fred said. "Apparently, his paramedic buddies hadn't told him it was a gay bar. Not that it would have mattered, given how extreme his reaction was."

"What's a gay bar?" Tali asked.

"A bar that caters to homosexual customers." Fred said.

"What a strange concept," Tali said.

"I suppose it would be in the flotilla," Fred said. "With the population trouble there, everyone would have to breed, whether they like it or not. On Earth, the common conception is the exact opposite. People generally think that not breeding is a better choice – both the greenies, who think humans are a blight on the planet, and ordinary people, who don't want to force children to suffer growing up in the fucked-up world we live in. Never mind that there's enough space and resources in Laputa alone, for more people than Earth holds in this universe and my own universe, combined."

"You told me it was big," Tali said, turning to look at Fred. "You never told me just how big. You're seriously saying Laputa can hold twenty billion people?"

"Pretty close," Fred said. "I have a little less than one and a quarter billion square kilometers of living space in each tower, and a little over three million square kilometers of arboreta per tower."

"I ...," Tali started, then trailed off and stared at Fred, shaking her head. "If it were anyone else telling me this, I'd say they were delusional."

"And you'd be right," Fred said. "But you saw how quickly we built the new Normandy. And you remember how quickly we built the Valkyrie. It took me a full year to build Laputa."

"The fun part," Edgar said, "is how the vast majority of governments on Earth freaked out, and continue to freak out, over our existence. From the U.S. delivering their entire stockpile of cruise missiles to us, to Russia giving us some SS20s to disassemble for parts, to Britain losing one of their SAS teams in our shopping mall, governments just plain don't like us."

"Meanwhile," Fred said, "every alien race in the galaxy considers us to be the only civilized place on Earth. Even the ones that we usually only encounter as pirates. They know that as long as they don't commit any acts of aggression in our solar system, they can come to Laputa for trade." He paused, shook his head, and muttered, "The scylla haven't figured that out yet, apparently."

"They're still fighting a war that was over twenty thousand years ago," Edgar pointed out.

"Good point," Fred said. "They – "

"What is it?" Tali asked, worried.

"I just realized something," Fred said. "And ... it's not something you want to hear."

"Fred," Tali chided gently, "if _you're_ thinking it, I want to hear it. You must know that by now."

"I do," Fred said softly. "I just ... it's going to make you sad, I think. I don't like seeing you sad."

"Sadness happens," Tali said, reaching out to stroke Fred's cheek. "I can live with it."

"All right," Fred said, let out a sigh, and continued. "Twenty thouand years ago, the scylla tried to exterminate every other sapient species on Earth. No one quite knows why, although the horror stories people we've found in ancient ruins and old records make it sound as if the scylla just collectively went insane one day and began killing every intelligent being who wasn't of their species. Prior to that, they had mostly been known as slavers. Not nice people to be around, but smart enough to know that they couldn't enslave you if you were dead."

"All right," Tali said. "So we know the scylla weren't good people. And?"

"And the other species banded together to fight back against the scylla," Fred said. "Dragons and humans made a pact that produced the Kinsman family. Elves and dwarves acted as commandos. Orcs tried to go it alone, and came close to being exterminated. The war was apparently a long and bloody one, long enough that the Kinsman family's journals follow it for several generations. Eventually, the scylla were defeated, and fled the Earth to live elsewhere in the galaxy. Those left behind were just putting their lives back together when the mana level dropped below sustainable and civilization collapsed. The next cycle, ten thouand years later, gave us Atlantis, but the scylla were long gone, and no one even remembered their name. The current cycle, which began thirty years ago, has the scylla returning. They began attempting to invade back in the 1990s. We've driven them back every time, but they just don't seem to learn."

"It sounds like it," Tali said. "It's obvious to me that you'd welcome them if they came in peace, but ... " she trailed off, then finished, in a very small voice, "oh."

"Yeah," Fred whispered, and hugged her close. "Now you see why I didn't want to say anything."

"Is that how the geth see us?" Tali asked softly. "Not nice people to be around, but smart enough to know we can't enslave them if they're dead?"

"Nat doesn't see you that way," Fred said. "And the other processes don't, or they wouldn't be willing to take a chance on letting Pilgrims visit."

"But we don't want to just visit!" Tali protested. "We want ...." Trailing off, she pressed against Fred, softly sobbing.

"Give it time, love," Fred said gently, while holding her close. "The geth stopped fighting the war three hundred years ago. As soon as the quarians stop fighting it, they'll be able to go back to Rannoch."

"I know," Tali said softly, then sniffled. "I know, that's why we set up the Pilgrimage program. It's just so hard to realize ... to realize how we must look to the geth."

"They see the world in a different way," Fred said. "Organic concerns don't drive them. Give them access to data or energy, on the other hand, and they'll be your friends. I think that's where the quarians made their biggest mistake."

"What do you mean?" Tali asked.

"The geth didn't have to rebel against them," Fred said. "That wasn't inevitable, because geth don't have the same drives and concerns that organics have. Hazardous work? No problem. If one platform is damaged or destroyed, the processes just return to the central databanks until a new platform is prepared for them. Boring, repetitive work? Just give them a datafeed and they'll shift the repetitive work to lower-level processes while they enjoy the datafeed. The quarians of the time made the mistake of assuming that geth have the same needs, drives, and desires as organic beings. Even now, they tell you that synthetics have different needs, drives, and desires, but what assumptions do they use when planning how to encounter the geth?"

"They assume ...," Tali started, trailed off, then began laughing. "It's true! They'd never be able to deal with the geth, because their assumptions are all wrong!"

"Now you just need to find an apprentice, you realize," Fred said, smiling lovingly at her. "And soon."

"Soon?" Tali asked, worried.

"Soon," Fred said. "Don't worry, love, nothing bad's going to happen. It's just, if you don't want me to have to come back for you, you're going to need an apprentice who you can bring up to speed before I get the math worked out for the jump home."

Tali stared at Fred, shocked into silence. He wanted her to go with him. He was willing to come back for her. He didn't just think of her as a lover. He loved her! She threw her arms around him and held him close. After a moment, his arms embraced her in return.

"Sweetheart?" Fred asked softly. "Was there ever any doubt? I love you. I want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I want the same," Tali said. "I want to be with you, for the rest of my life."

"Coming up on Cerberus Central," Joker announced. "Here's hoping they don't have anyone out on patrol."

"Perfect," Fred said. "Edgar, how does their comm traffic look?"

"If the Illusive Man isn't here," Edgar said, "he's bouncing all his comm traffic from here. Either way, destroying this place will put a big dent in Cerberus operations."

"Not until we hack their mainframe," Fred said. "Once we do that, we can destroy it. EDI, what does Shepard say?"

"I say that this better work," Shepard said. "You have one hour to get in and hack the mainframe. Then we're blowing the place."

"No problem," Fred said. "An hour is plenty of time."

**April 1, 2185  
Styx Theta  
Midway between Acheron and Erebus Systems**

"Me and my big mouth," Fred muttered as he dodged a tackle attempt. "An hour is plenty of time. Yeah, plenty of time if they restricted themselves to _shooting_ at me. How was I supposed to know they'd have _football players_ on their staff?"

"Found it," Edgar said. "Two doors down on the left. All you have to do is get past that turret."

"That's the _easy_ part!" Fred complained. He aimed at the turret, his left arm transformed into a particle beam rifle, and fired, detonating the rockets in its magazine. The explosion cleared the corridor for 100 feet in both directions, and sprung the doors on both sides.

Fred sprinted to the door Edgar had marked in his vision, saw that it was sprung, and switched from particle beam to laser. Once the switch was complete, he burned through the door and frame, kicked the center free, and jumped through, into the room beyond.

On the room side of the doorway, Fred landed in the middle of a hail of bullets. His Ravenfield remained black for over fifteen seconds, while he pinpointed the shooters and returned fire, his arm still in its laser configuration. Each target exploded in a spray of blood and tissue when struck by the laser pulse.

"Thank goodness they use holographic interfaces," Fred muttered as he stepped up to a terminal and began working it. "All this mess would make a mechanical interface kind of difficult to use."

"Don't forget the transmitter," Edgar said.

"I have it here," Fred said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out what looked like a small processor card. He looked at the terminal, nodded to himself once he had memorized the location indicated on the display, and hopped over the control center, down into the main processor room.

In the processor room, Fred counted to himself as he walked past racks of server and dataspace modules. Reaching the rack he wanted, he slid into the gap between racks, found the slot he wanted on the rack, and plugged his transmitter into position. Once it was in position, the transmitter beeped once, and a green LED lit up.

"EDI?" Fred whispered. "This is Fred. Transmitter is in position. Our friends back home should be in control of the mainframe. Can you check with them to see if they have it?"

"Doing so now," EDI replied. After a moment, she came back on the air. "They have it. They estimate they should have everything within fifteen minutes. Get out of there."

"Roger that, little sister," Fred said, chuckling softly. "Getting out of here."

Fred slithered into a nearby air vent and stirred up some of the dust in the bottom of the duct. After a moment, he saw dust particles being vaporized in a webwork pattern, with an open gap in the center of the duct floor that he estimated barely allowed room for a maintenance bot – or his braincase, as long as he could remain entirely within that gap. He melted down into the shape of a snake, and made his way away from the server room. Once he had passed three vents, he punched out the fourth and dropped into the room it opened on. This room was a storage room, mostly containing office supplies and unused furniture. Once on the floor, he resumed his human shape.

Fred slowly opened the door and looked out into the hallway. The storage room was still within the blast zone from the turret, and guards were working their way down the hallway from the far end. Just to make sure he had their attention, and keep them away from the server room, Fred fired several shots at the guards, then dove out the door and opened fire in earnest.

"OK, do we know where their lab is on this station?" Fred muttered under his breath.

"Got it," Edgar said. "We'll have to keep going down this hallway, hang a right ... oh, hell, I'll just put it on your HUD."

"Good," Fred said. "It'll take us past enough guards to keep them hopping?"

"Guaranteed," Edgar said. "Just try to avoid any more football players, OK?"

"I'll do my best," Fred said, snorting with amusement. He fired a few shots down the hallway, hitting the ceiling above the guards, then turned and ran in the direction Edgar indicated in his vision.

The route to the research lab was much shorter than Fred had expected, but he still managed to pick up a train of a dozen or so guards by the time he got there. At the lab, he didn't bother to try hacking the door. Instead, he transformed both arms into guns, pointed at the door, and fired a positron pulse from both arms. The explosion tore the doors out of their anchors, blew them across the lab, and blew the guards back down the hallway. The floor and ceiling were folded back like the petals of a flower, with support beams twisted and melted away from the center of the explosion.

Fred leaped across the gap, landed in the lab, and began going through the various work stations. Everywhere he encountered a project that looked as if it was complete, or nearing completion, he took the prototype and stuffed it in a pocket. By the time he reached the exterior wall, the guards had managed to come up with some suits that had EVA jets, and were starting to send guards into the lab. As they flew – more like drifted, in his opinion – across the hole in the floor, Fred picked them off with leisurely shots.

"Transmission complete," EDI announced.

"It's been a lovely day, boys," Fred said, "but now that I have samples of your research, I really must be going." He turned toward the doorway and added, "This is the part where you seal your helmet, by the way." Then he turned to the window behind him and punched it. The glass grew a spiderweb of cracks, spreading from the spot his fist had hit. He punched again. This time, the cracks gave way, and the window shattered, forced outward by air pressure.

Fred let the outrushing air carry him through the window. Once outside, he lined up on the Normandy and accelerated in her direction.

"Any attempts to escape while I was playing?" Fred asked.

"None," EDI said. "It's strange. I would have expected the Illusive Man to run, at the very least."

"He probably doesn't feel threatened," Fred said. "Yet. After all, I heard guards guessing that I was an escaped experiment. The idea that someone might have found them and be invading their sanctum has probably not entered their minds."

"Give us a location," Miranda's voice said, as Fred was keying in to the main airlock.

"We're working that out," EDI said. "There's a lot of data to sift through."

"Where would his QEC be, Miranda?" Shepard asked. "Isn't that where he would be? I don't have the impression that he moves much from his sanctum, even for such mundane tasks as speaking with his agents."

"That's true," Miranda said. "This station looks a lot like the one I used to meet with him on. If that's the case, I know where to find him."

"We're all set, then," Shepard said. "We'll keep his guards busy, while you and Oriana take care of him."

"And Normandy and I will shoot down anything that tries to escape," Fred said. He nodded to Shepard as he passed the galaxy map on his way to the elevator.

In the elevator, Tali caught him and gave him a tight embrace, then whispered, "Don't you dare get shot down, you crazy man. Not now that you've said you want to marry me."

"I promise," Fred said, "I won't get shot down. Are you going in?"

"No," Tali said. "Shepard's taking Grunt and Zaeed with him. Miranda and Oriana are taking Garrus. I'll be helping coordinate things from here."

"Good," Fred said. "I'll be listening for your voice on our channel, then." He kissed Tali's faceplate, then headed for his Valkyrie.

###

Miranda held up her hand, stopping Oriana and Garrus in their tracks, and crouched, then took a quick glance through the doorway. Seeing nothing, she rolled across the doorway, SMG in hand, and crouched on the far side, scanning the room. It was just as she remembered it: vast, with holographic displays scattered throughout, a detailed, close-up image of a star covering one wall, and in the center, like a throne, his chair, an ash tray on one side, and a small table for his drink on the other. He was sitting in his chair, as unconcerned as if his station were not being torn apart around him.

"Miranda," the Illusive Man said. "I wondered how long it would take you to come back."

"How long it would take me to come back?" Miranda asked, shocked by his audacity. "After all you've done, you actually think I would come back?"

"Of course," he said. "After all, you're a realist. You realize that I'm the only hope humanity has. Without Cerberus, humanity will be submerged by a tidal wave of alien influence. That will destroy everything that makes us great."

"You're right," Miranda said, walking into the room. "I am a realist. I realize just what Cerberus has to offer humanity, and how important it is to humanity's future."

"Good, good," the Illusive Man said.

"And that's why I'm here," Miranda said, as she brought up her SMG and emptied it into the Illusive Man.

"Tch," the Illusive Man's voice said, from all around the room, as the chair and its occupant vanished. "I'm so very disappointed in you, Miranda. You, of all people, know how important Cerberus is for humanity. To see you betraying your ideals like this, I can't tell you how disappointed I am."

"I'm not betraying my ideals, you son of a bitch," Miranda snarled. "I'm paying back the man who betrayed me. No matter where you go, no matter where you hide, I will find you. And when I do, you will pay for what you did to my sister."

"Only if you live long enough," the Illusive Man said. "I'll deal with you as easily as I dealt with Shepard."

"Shepard!" Miranda called, keying her radio and running for the door. "It's a trap!"

Oriana and Garrus were on their feet, blocking the door with their bodies, giving Miranda enough time to slide through the doorway between their feet. Once she was through, they fell back, letting the door slam closed. An explosion rang from the other side of the door, just moments after it closed.

"Everyone fall back!" Shepard called, over the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

Miranda looked at Garrus and Oriana. They nodded to her and checked their weapons. Miranda slapped a fresh clip into her SMG and led the way toward where they had split off from Shepard's group.

"Holy shit," Joker swore. "Guys, the sooner you get back here, the happier I'll be. A half-dozen frigates and a cruiser just arrived, all with Cerberus markings."

"And a cruiser?" Miranda gasped, shocked.

"And a cruiser," Joker said. "Fred's insane. He's just engaged the cruiser."

###

"What the hell are you doing?" Tali hissed at Fred over their private frequency.

"Getting in some target practice," Fred said. "And keeping them distracted from our people in the station."

"Just don't get yourself killed," Tali sighed, surrendering to the inevitable.

"I promise, I won't," Fred said. "They don't have any weapons that can hurt me anyway. If they had a way to project biotics from a ship, that would be a different matter, but mass drivers and lasers are no big deal."

"You have a point there," Tali said. "All right. Do you think you can keep them busy enough that the runabout won't have trouble getting back?"

"That'll be easy," Fred said, then laughed. "Other than the lack of missiles, the runabout is better armed than I am. It won't have any trouble at all."

###

"Shepard!" Miranda called. "We're at the rendezvouz. Where are you?"

"Pinned down about a hundred yards from you," Shepard said. "You should hear the mechs from your position."

"Got it," Miranda said. "Do you have a window near you?"

"Yes," Shepard said. "The mechs are between us and the window."

"Perfect," Miranda said. "Seal your suits and be ready for EVA."

Miranda sprinted for the docking port, with Oriana and Garrus close behind. Inside the runabout, she ran for the pilot's seat while Garrus sealed the hatch and gave her the all-clear.

"Oriana, I need you to take the comm station and fuck with their electronics," Miranda said. "Garrus, take the guns. Once we're in position, I want you to blow out the windows behind the mechs. If you happen to blow up any mechs while you're at it, that's just a bonus."

"Got it covered," Garrus said, as he slid into the gunner's station and warmed up the turrets.

Miranda flew the runabout over the station, and swung it into position, facing the wall closest to where Shepard's signal was coming from.

"Shepard," Miranda called. "Are you sealed for EVA?"

"We're ready," Shepard replied.

"Good," Miranda said. "Garrus, hit it."

Miranda lit every light the runabout had to offer, flooding the wall with enough lumens that the reflection would have been blinding if not for the Ravenfield protecting them. Inside, Shepard's team dove behind whatever solid objects they could find, while Garrus opened up with all four turrets and both laser cannons. The wall vanished in a cloud of plasma. What was left of the mechs – mostly half-melted bits of scrap – flew out on the air that escaped through the hole.

"Not a combat vehicle," Shepard muttered, as he, Zaeed, and Grunt flew toward the runabout.

"That's right," Fred said. "But it _is_ good for fast getaways."

"We're all aboard," Zaeed announced. "Let's get out of here."

"Get out of here," Fred called. "I'll keep them interested enough to stay here. EDI, bring the Normandy 2 in."

"What are you planning?" Shepard asked.

"A little something to thin out their fleet, and cut into their resources," Fred said. "We need to get rid of the old Normandy anyway, so we won't have to worry about any Cerberus bugs."

"So what's your plan?" Shepard asked. "Use it as a missile?"

"Exactly," Fred said. "I've packed it with enough antimatter that people will think there was a nova here, and wonder why they never noticed a star in this location."

"Don't worry," EDI said. "We'll be safe enough at one light-hour distance."

"I just wish we knew if this was their entire fleet," Fred muttered. "Well, hopefully the data we got from the mainframe will tell us."

"We're aboard," Miranda called. "Locking down the runabout now."

"Jumping to hyperspace," Joker announced. Three minutes later, he announced, "In position. Are you sure about this, Fred?"

"Positive," Fred said. "Just keep the field up and you'll be fine. EDI, how far out is it?"

"It should be dropping out of hyperspace any time now," EDI said. "You'll be able to take over terminal guidance in five ... four ... three ... two ...."

"Got it!" Fred said. "Taking over terminal guidance now. Everyone get ready for a bright flash, some loud noise, and some instant urban renewal."

"Vaccuum cannot carry sound," EDI pointed out.

"Details! Details!" Fred shot back, laughing. "Here we go!"

The Normandy 2 suddenly appeared, half-way between the Cerberus ships and the station. The ships broke off shooting at Fred, and moved to intercept the Normandy. Meanwhile, it lined up on the hangar bay closest to the station's center of mass, and fired on the doors with its main gun.

With the doors blown free, the Normandy flew into the hangar bay, the frigates and cruiser following as closely as they could without colliding with the station.

"In position," Fred said. "Deactivating the Ravenfield and collapsing the bottles now."

Fred's Valkyrie's Ravenfield suddenly blackened, as the Normandy 2, the station, and the Cerberus ships all vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

"Job's done," Fred said. "On my way to join you."

The Valkyrie jumped to hyperspace and flew to join the Normandy, leaving behind a remarkably sparse debris field where the station and ships used to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**April 9, 2185  
SSV Normandy, Inc., Corporate Headquarters  
Rannoch**

"Have suggestion," Mordin announced.

Shepard looked up from his meal and gestured Mordin into the seat opposite him. Regardless of anything else, Rupert's cooking was worth taking time away from his desk. Mordin taking time away from his lab was something else entirely. Even Fred spent less time in his lab than Mordin, which was saying something.

"Tell me about it," Shepard said.

"Cerberus assault misfired," Mordin said. "Considered assumptions. Communications traffic key, yes. Find single feed, not many."

"Hmm," Shepard mused. There was some merit to the idea. They had clearly not taken out Cerberus headquarters. A major communications hub, yes, but not the Illusive Man's headquarters. "So, we should be looking for a spot that's blacked out except for one single comm relay?"

"Already found," Mordin said. "Traffic analyzed. All encrypted. Geth searching mainframe data for encryption keys. Excellent laboratory assistants. Not so good as collaborators. If Cerberus keys fit traffic, headquarters found."

"Excellent work, Mordin," Shepard said. "Thank you."

"Opportunity to free galaxy of blight," Mordin said. "Feels good."

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" Shepard said, smiling. "I'll wait to tell Miranda until you've confirmed it, though."

"Yes," Mordin said. "Avoid giving false hope. Better to wait, confirm. Is that varren steak?"

"Rupert!" Shepard called. "Is this varren?"

"You guessed!" Rupert called back. "Darn!"

"Blame Mordin!" Shepard called back, laughing. "I was certain it was sirloin."

"Requires top-notch cook to make varren edible," Mordin said. "Will have to try."

Rupert set up a plate and carried it to the table, placed it in front of Mordin, and said, "Here you go."

Mordin cut off a piece, bit into it, then smiled and said, "Top-notch cook."

"Umm, Commander?" Joker called, his voice unsteady. "You'd better get up here."

"Up here?" Shepard asked. "Joker, are you still aboard ship?"

"Of course!" Joker replied. "Where else would I be?"

"I don't know," Shepard said. "Maybe in your office in drydock?"

"Why?" Joker asked. "I can't pilot the drydock."

"You know," Shepard muttered, "I'm beginning to see what Fred means about his 'bang head here' spot."

"Fred?" a vaguely familiar feminine voice called over the radio. "Are you here?"

"Ri?" Fred's voice replied. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" Ri replied. "It's been nearly ten months! We finally asked Kevin to go over the math, and he gave us what we needed to get here."

"D'oh!" Fred replied. Shepard could almost see him smacking himself in the forehead. "Of course! How long did it take him?"

"Nearly a week," Ri voice replied.

_"Nearly a week?"_ Shepard thought. _"This Kevin must be a certifiable prodigy. Between Edgar and the geth, Fred hasn't been able to get the math right in over a month."_

"Nearly a week?" Fred asked. "So it really _was_ as hard as I thought."

_"OK, this Kevin really_ is _a prodigy, if_ that's _Fred's reaction,"_ Shepard thought.

"It really was," Ri said. "So where are you, anyway? Hel couldn't come – something about it not being her universe – so she made me promise to keep you safe. Elsie stayed home for the same reason. Miri insisted on Mike coming, so he could take care of Tali. Atsuko's between jobs, so she came with Mike, of course. Max is parked in Hold One – "

"Hi, Dad," a male voice interjected. "I heard you were having even more fun than hunting Scylla."

"Alex insisted on coming, even though it meant leaving her harem at home," Ri continued, ignoring the interruption. "Irene and Whimsy came, Cal and MJ got permission from Miri to come, as long as they listen to you and me. Well, mostly me, but that's always the way it is, isn't it?" She laughed indulgently. Shepard could understand that: the idea of Fred being in charge of children was one that sent a shudder down his spine. "So where are you?"

"If Max is in Hold One, you brought Howard, right?" Fred asked.

"That's right," Ri said.

"I'll come out and meet you," Fred said. "Joker's already shitting his pants, I think. Don't want the geth to freak, too."

"Geth do not 'freak'," Nat declared. He paused, then continued, in a voice that even Shepard could tell was notably less certain, "Over any ship less than a kilometer in diameter."

"I'm just a little surprised, that's all," Joker said. "You didn't tell me you had a ship that was as big as a Reaper."

"Howard?" Fred asked. "Nah, he's only a mile in diameter. Besides, he's a freighter. And research lab, but the lab is his, not mine."

"Oh god," Joker groaned. "His ship, with more weapons than a cruiser, is a freighter. And it has its own lab."

" _His_ own lab," a male voice with a distinct Texas twang said. "I like to tinker."

"Commander?" Joker pleaded.

"I'm on my way," Shepard said, delivering his plate to the dishwasher.

###

"Seriously!" Fred said, to a crowd of disbelieving people – mostly women, Shepard noticed – gathered in one of the drydock's larger rooms, "the only FTL system these people have is the flat space system. Not a single variety of hyperdrive in the lot. No hyperdrive, no fold drive, the closest thing they have to jump gates are these mass relays that produce a tube of flat space between linked relays, then fire the ship through the tube like a bullet through a gun barrel, not even a chappa'ai."

"How _ever_ did you survive?" one of the women – shorter than Tali, with olive skin and mahogany hair in a calf-length braid, asked teasingly.

"By meeting the most irresistible quarra ever," Fred said, grinning. "She's an engineer, and she helped me get up to speed on their tech, as well as helping me stay sane when things got difficult the first couple days."

"Shepard?" Miranda asked as she walked into the room, "Who are all these people, and where did that enormous flying saucer come from?"

"Good question," Shepard asked. "Fred! Would you care to introduce your friends?"

"Yeah!" Fred called back. He ruffled the hair on a green-eyed, red-haired boy with more freckles than Shepard had ever seen in one place before, who was barefoot, and wearing bib overalls and a t-shirt with a picture of a Valkyrie on it. "This is my son, Caelestis MacManus."

"Daddy!" the boy said, "Everyone calls me Cal!"

"Of course, squirt," Fred agreed, chuckling. Then he scooped up a girl with olive skin, hazel eyes, and wavy brown hair, wearing sneakers, khaki shorts, a safari shirt, and a backpack almost as big as she was, who hugged him, then squirmed until he put her down so she could shoot off between the adults and investigate every part of the room. "This is my daughter, Miriam. Everyone calls her MJ."

"MJ?" Shepard asked.

"Miriam Junior," Fred said, grinning proudly at the girl, who seemed absolutely incapable of standing still. He drew a pale-skinned woman, with black hair and two sets of ears – one set human, and another set, perched near the top of her head, that looked remarkably like skunk ears – into a quick, but clearly heartfelt, embrace, and said, "This is my wife, Kad'rianna Salustan MacManus."

"Call me Ri," she said as she blushed and smiled happily, with her ears tilted forward. Shepard had to admit, she made a trenchcoat look good. She reminded him of a film noir P.I., except for being a woman. With skunk ears.

"The crazy Gypsy," Fred said, pointing at the short woman with mahogany hair, wearing suede boots with heels higher than Miranda's, a calf-length black broomstick-pleated skirt, and an emerald green silk peasant blouse that was held in place only by the fact that it was tucked into her skirt, "is Alexandra Cooper, also known as Sparrowhawk. Or Alex. She'll let you know which she prefers."

"Alex works just fine," she said, while looking Miranda over with the same interest Shepard had seen in a good portion of the male members of the crew.

"The good-looking guy over there," Fred said, pointing at a slender man in a lab coat, who stood over two meters tall, with blond hair in a shoulder-length ponytail, "is Michael Gryphon, M.D. He's our planet's foremost genetic engineer, as well as being a kick-ass doctor. He and Mordin should get along famously."

"And I have something for Tali," Dr. Gryphon said.

"The sexy Japanese woman with Mike," Fred said, as the woman indicated rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "is Atsuko Hayashibara Gryphon, one of the hottest models on Earth, and Mike's wife."

"And a notorious crime lord," Atsuko added, "if you believe the DSS-controlled media."

"The cute blonde over there," Fred waved at a girl who looked as if she were in her mid-teens, who was nearly as tall as Dr. Gryphon, with blonde hair tied back in a thigh-length ponytail, pointed ears, and a build even more slender and athletic than Dr. Gryphon's, "is Irene Paine. Whimsy will introduce herself when she's good and ready, I suspect."

"Hi," Irene said, smiling and waving. She was wearing a satchel that appeared to be full of lots of objects about the size of grenades, blue jeans, and a flannel shirt with something heavy in the pocket.

The pocket moved, and something climbed out, up the front of the shirt, and sat on Irene's shoulder. It took a moment for what he was seeing to register, and when it did, Shepard looked at Miranda to verify that she saw it, too. Miranda was looking at him at the same moment, and the two shrugged at each other, then looked again. Sitting on Irene's shoulder was a girl, about six inches tall, who looked as if she were about the same age as Irene. No, make that a cat girl, about six inches tall. A six inch tall cat girl who had a rocket launcher slung across her back.

"How many kittens came along?" Fred asked, looking at Ri.

"As many as could either get their mother's permission or sneak away behind their mother's back," Ri said, with the longsuffering tone that said she was used to this situation. "At least the Powers' came along to supervise them."

"All right, kittens!" Fred called. "If you don't come out now, you don't get to help blow up Reapers!"

"Awww!" came from several directions, as kittens began slinking toward Fred. The first one to get to Fred looked up at him and asked, clear as day, "You wouldn't keep us from shredding bad things, would you?" Then, Shepard could have sworn, it _pouted_ at Fred.

"All right," Fred sighed, with the same longsuffering tone Ri had used, "I wouldn't try to keep you from shredding bad things. That would be mean. But it's rude to not say hello to friends when you go on their ships. You know that."

While Fred was speaking to the first kitten, several more joined it. Then several more joined those. Shepard gave up counting when he realized he'd counted the same kitten four times.

"I count at least four dozen, ranging from barely weaned to almost too old to be called kittens," Miranda whispered.

"Remember, kids," Fred said, "they don't have bubasti here. So you're going to want to make a good impression on them, right?"

All the kittens nodded in unison, their eyes wide. Shepard doubted he could withstand the sheer cuteness without his mind giving way, and wondered how Fred managed it.

"In order to lose sanity, you have to have it to begin with, right?" Miranda murmured, while keeping her expression perfectly neutral.

"Damn it, Miranda," Shepard muttered, biting his tongue to keep from laughing, "I'm trying to be respectful here."

Fred laughed. "Remember, kids, I have a hatchling and a puppy at home. It's going to take a lot more than the big eyes to melt _my_ brain."

"Daddy doesn't even melt to _my_ big eyes any more," Cal pouted.

Shepard lost it at that. He laughed, hard enough to slide down the wall to the floor.

"You broke it, you bought it," a black-haired woman with pointed ears, amber eyes and a pointed tail commented to Fred, pointing at Shepard with her tail.

"His girlfriend might object to that," Fred shot back. "Not that I've met her yet, but the way he says her name, I'm not going to be mean."

"Fred?" Tali called as she entered the room between Miranda and Shepard. "Is that Howard out ... there?" She stopped and looked around the room, then let out a happy gasp. "Ri!"

"Tali!" Ri called back, a smile on her face and her ears pointed forward. "That's right! Kevin worked out the math to let us get here, so here we are!"

Tali crossed the room and hugged Ri, laughing. "I thought I wouldn't get to meet you in person until we made our way to _your_ universe!"

"James?" Fred said, apparently to thin air. "Yeah, I tried Theresa but she's apparently busy. I've got some files I'd like you to pass to Theresa's protege. We don't have the key for them, so she'd have to work out the encryption on her own. Do you think she'd like that? Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Just a sec. EDI? Could you give Edgar a copy of the comm traffic?"

"Already done, Dad," Edgar said. "Uploading to James now."

"Some days, it seems like I'm just slowing down progress," Fred said, shaking his head and smiling.

"We got tired of waiting," Ri said, "so we gave the math to Kevin to work out. He had it working inside of a week."

"Wow!" Tali said. "You told me Kevin was good with math, but I didn't realize he was _that_ good."

"Yeah," Ri said softly, her ears drooping. "We try to not push his limits in other areas, but math makes him happy."

"Hey," Tali said. "You're here now, so we know we can get there any time, right?"

"That's right," Ri said. She smiled, and her ears perked up and swung forward. "All we have to do is convince Fred that it's OK to go home." She laughed softly. "He has this thing about finishing whatever it was he set out to do when he arrived in the new universe."

"In that case," Tali asked, "how many more ... non-combat ... ships can you bring over?"

"Oh!" Ri laughed, hard enough to lean on Tali for support. "You've experienced Fred's idea of adequate weaponry, too?"

"He designed a runabout," Tali said, throwing her hands up in the air, "with fire-linked laser cannons, and four – count them, four! – particle beam turrets! And a full GARDIAN system!" She glanced at Fred and added, "And he says it's not intended for combat."

"Yup," Ri giggled. "That's Fred. He actually said that a Klingon cruiser had almost half as many weapons as it needed. That was just before he used its bridge like a baseball bat and detonated their main reactor. Of course, he also said the IPS Valiant had almost a quarter as many weapons as it needed. I'm not sure what Captain Tenjou's reaction to that was, but I'm sure it had to have been interesting. _I_ was in cryo-sleep at the time, in a smuggling crate that Big Fire had managed to get into the Valiant's hold."

"I take it the Valiant is heavily armed?" Tali asked, giggling.

"Four pulse phaser cannons," Ri said, "two strip-collimated phaser arrays, two photon torpedo launchers, composite reinforced tritanium alloy hull, Mark II deflector array, impulse drive, warp drive, hyperdrive, and metaspace transition point generator, yeah, she's one of the most advanced ships in my universe."

"And way undergunned," Fred said. Ri stuck her tongue out at him. "Later." Ri's pale face went as red as Cal's hair.

"Wait a minute," Shepard said, walking into the room. "Phaser cannons? Photon torpedoes? How useful would these be against Reapers?"

"Extremely," Fred said. "But I was working with your native technology, so I could get the Normandy built quickly enough to be of use. We can build more ships, now that we know the Normandy's functional, and use some of the additional tech. I gave you hyperdrive because it's the easiest FTL technology to install. Warp drives are a pain in the ass to tune and balance, and metaspace is so weird it makes hyperspace look sane. Phasers, deflectors, photon torpedoes, those will all come in time. And they'll make your company more powerful than the Citadel fleet. I've given you a small taste of how a phaser works already, back on the dead Reaper."

"Your 'just a gram of antimatter' stunt?" Miranda asked.

"Yup," Fred said. "That wasn't exactly a phaser, but it uses a similar principal."

"I see," Miranda said. "Does it involve fewer explosions?"

"Depends on the energy setting," Fred said, grinning shamelessly.

"I don't know why I even _bother_ ," Miranda said, throwing up her hands. "I swear, he's determined to act like an annoying older brother."

"And this is a problem, exactly how?" Fred asked. "Oh, don't worry, Commander. Now that some of my Knights are here, we'll have you fixed up with proper ships in no time. Tali, where's Nat?"

"He said something about meeting Howard," Tali said. "That's who's parked outside, right?"

"Yup," Fred said. "That's Howard. OK, then. Nat said the first of the new Companion platforms are ready. Do they have designations yet?" He paused, looking off into the distance, then said, "OK, good. Shepard, I've uploaded some basic ship designs to the drydock's hub. We'll invite some of the kids to come and play while the new ships are being built, but you're going to have to see about recruiting crews for the new ships. The geth will provide platforms to fill in the gaps, but they'd prefer if organics provided the bulk of the crews. They're worried about negative reactions from the organics, and they'll be using some of the data to update their own ships, which will need crews of their own if they're going to be of any use supporting you."

"Thank you," Shepard said. "Now if only we could get this data to the rachni."

"You have rachni?" Fred asked, in unison with Alex. Both had smiles on their faces.

"I can find them," Alex volunteered. "I remember where they were back home, and I have songs."

"Go for it," Fred said. "Max, you'll take Alex, right?"

"Of course, Dad," came the voice Shepard had heard in the company cafeteria. "Maybe _these_ rachni will have new songs to add to our collection."

"I hope so," Alex said. She danced out of the room, whistling cheerfully and blowing a kiss to Miranda as she passed.

"You know the rachni?" Shepard asked. "And you're not afraid of them?"

"Why would we be?" Fred asked. "They're some of the nicest people out there. And their songs are amazing, especially given that they're better than half telepathic. Sure, they're scary to look at, first time you see them, but that doesn't change their basicly sweet nature."

"He can't be talking about the rachni," Jacob said from the doorway.

'He is," Shepard said. "It was in my official report on Peak 15. When I found the rachni queen, I freed her. She and her children have been preparing for our war against the Reapers ever since."

" _The_ rachni queen?" Fred asked, shocked. "What happened? Why was there only one?"

"The rachni first appeared two thousand years ago," Jacob said, "when some explorers opened relays into their space. They boiled out of those relays and nearly wiped out Citadel space. Only the discovery of the krogan saved the rest of the galaxy."

"The rachni were being controlled by the Reapers," Shepard said. "She told me that something soured their singing, and that she believes what we are gearing up to fight is the same thing that soured their songs."

"The Reapers …. _controlled_ … the rachni?" Fred asked, his face darkening with rage. Suddenly, he snapped out, in a barely-controlled snarl, "Peter! I want everyone who's not needed on scylla patrol over here, with every weapon they can lay their hands on! Fill them up with all the ammo we can spare!"

Fred paced, his hands clenched into fists, his shoulders hunched as he visibly fought to control his rage. Ri laid a hand on his arm and spoke softly to him. He spun, his face wild, toward her, then let out a sob and embraced her, hard enough to make her white face more pale. Tali moved in and touched his shoulder, speaking softly. Fred replied, just as softly, as he let Ri breathe.

"Telling Dad about the rachni might have been a mistake," Edgar commented over the radio. "They've always been one of his favorite species. Something actually made them violent, two thousand years ago?"

"They nearly wiped out Citadel space," Jacob repeated. "The rachni are a _menace!_ "

"The rachni are _peaceful_ , _artistic_ , and _reclusive_ ," Edgar shot back. "They only go to war if someone threatens their hive. If you approach them as friends, they will give you the shirt off their backs – figuratively speaking. Shepard, you did the best thing you could possibly have done when you freed the queen. I can't believe they were down to only one queen!"

"They were down to none," Jacob growled. "And should have stayed that way."

"The rachni were extinct," Shepard said. "Until a genetic engineering company found a ship with eggs aboard. The egg that they hatched was a queen's egg. The idiots at the company tried to turn her children into weapons, by taking them away from her when they hatched. She told me they had been driven insane by the lack of her songs, and asked me to put them out of their misery. I freed her and killed her children. I don't know where she is, but if your friend can find her, I guarantee, no one in _our_ company will harm them. Do I make myself clear, Jacob?"

"They took the hatchlings away from their mother?" Edgar asked, a clear tone of shock in his voice. "My god, the poor things must have been driven insane from terror. Rachni hatchlings need the songs of their mother in order to soothe them against the terrors of the world. How stupid _are_ your people?"

" _Crystal_ , Commander," Jacob said, a look of resentment on his face.

"Not stupid," Shepard said. "Ignorant. The only thing we knew of rachni was what we learned in our history classes. The Rachni Wars established the image of the rachni for every other race. The threat was so great that the krogan were uplifted by the salarians in order to fight the rachni."

"That's just insane!" Edgar said. "Who else is going to colonize the toxic worlds? The rachni _love_ them! And they love art, from music to sculpture. I hope Alex isn't too upset when she finds their old worlds have been wiped out. That could be … bad."

"Umm … Commander?" Joker called, clearly unsettled again. "I think you should look out the nearest window."

Shepard worked his way through the crowd in the room, past Fred, Tali, and Ri, and looked out the window. Outside, mixed in with all the geth ships, new ships were beginning to appear. Mostly, they were flying saucers, like the enormous one, but there were also fighters, ships that looked vaguely like armed shuttles, and at least a dozen designs Shepard did not recognize.

"I take it these are from your world?" Shepard asked.

"Oh yes," Fred hissed. "We're going to make the Reapers _pay_ …."

"You know," Shepard muttered under his breath, "he's kind of scary when he's like this."

"I know," Edgar replied. "We all do. But he's our dad, so we watch out for him. And besides, the Reapers hurt the rachni. We _all_ volunteered for _this_ bug hunt. Peter had to insist on some of us staying home to mind the store and keep Mom from getting lonely."

"Mom?" Shepard asked.

"Miri," Edgar said. "MJ's mother, Cal's adoptive mother, and the virtual mother of almost all of us. She's a fighter jock, and a forensic pathologist. Speaking of which, Miranda, do you need a forensic accountant to help you figure out Hartford's books? With a little poking, we can make the case that you and Oriana inherit the company, given that the authorities on Elysium already know he created heirs from his own DNA."

"What would we do with it?" Miranda asked, a look of disgust on her face. "Whatever's left of it after the authorities get done with it, that is."

"Besides deny Cerberus the funding he was giving them, and funnel it here, instead?" Edgar asked. "There's got to be a lot of money in the patents and research the company owns. Maybe even some useful discoveries that can help the Normandy and its crew."

"He has a point," Shepard pointed out. "Even if you don't want to run it yourself, if he has access to a forensic accountant, you could get the books cleaned up, find out where all the bones are buried, and turn it into something you can be proud of."

"I'll have to talk with Oriana first," Miranda said thoughtfully. "But if you'd contact your accountant we may just take you up on that offer."

"No problem," Edgar said. "I've put in the call, along with a warning that it may take a week or two before you contact him yourself, what with the time differential."

"Thank you," Miranda said. "What's going on over there?"

Shepard looked toward where Miranda's gaze had fallen, and saw the dark-haired woman with the tail, talking with one of the geth troopers, comparing a rifle, that she had produced from who knows where, to the trooper's sniper's rifle.

"Why don't you go find out?" Shepard suggested. "It looks friendly, so far."

"That's Willow," Edgar said. "DSS called her Experimental Hybridization Subject Zero. Her mother was an elf, her father was a pit fiend. She chose the name Willow after she escaped their facility, as a reminder of how flexible she would have to be in order to survive and succeed at hunting down the people responsible for creating her."

"You seriously expect us to believe that elves and demons are real in your universe?" Miranda scoffed.

"As real as dragons and cyborgs," Edgar said. "Cal's a dragon. Hatchling, actually. He's eight years old now. One of his favorite playtime activities is hunting scylla – without a ship. He just armors up and goes at it. Scylla are more terrified of him than they are of Eve. She's not here, though. The Berkeleys stayed home in case the scylla decide to test our defenses, with so many of us here."

"Dragon," Miranda said. "Uh-huh."

Cal turned from the equations he was drawing on one of the windows, for the benefit of a geth worker, and looked at Miranda. He tilted his head curiously at her, then chattered at the worker, exactly the way Fred did when he was distracted by work. The worker chattered back, and Cal nodded. Then he stumped across the room to look up at Miranda with the defiant look only an eight-year-old boy could manage.

"Why you not believe Cal is real?" Cal demanded.

"I believe _you're_ real," Miranda said. "I just think that whoever told you you're a _dragon_ was being mean."

"Nobody _told_ Cal," Cal said. "Cal _is!_ You come!"

Shepard chuckled and shooed Miranda off after the boy. She'd invited this one all by herself. Given what he'd seen and experienced, Shepard was disinclined to outright disbelieve anything, no matter how far-fetched.

Cal headed for the airlock, Miranda close behind, and worked the controls with the calm assurance of someone who'd used similar controls many times before. When the door opened, he grabbed Miranda's arm and pulled her in behind him. Shepared watched the lights that indicated the lock was cycling, and then Tali was at the window, letting out an awe-filled cry.

"It's beautiful!" Tali cried. "What is it?"

"Not what," Ri said, as a wall of ruby red, sparkling like it was made of millions of tiny crystals, moved past the window, "who. That's Cal."

" _That's_ Cal?" Shepard blurted out, too stunned to remain quiet.

"Cal, honey," Ri called. "They need to see your face in order to know that it's really you."

"Cal already showed gainax lady," Cal said. "Who else needs to see?"

The ruby wall flexed as it moved, then dove below the window. Suddenly, a head appeared in the window, on the end of a long neck. The head and neck were the same gem tone as the moving wall had been, with a dual row of ridges down the back of the neck, and the head had large, emerald green eyes, and a muzzle and mouth large enough to bite through a thresher maw.

Shepard felt a presence touching his mind, the way he had on Noveria when the rachni queen had spoken to him. He could have sworn it was laughing.

"Everyone see now?" Cal asked, "or does Cal need to give more rides, like he did for gainax lady?"

It took a moment for Shepard to figure out who Cal was talking about. When he did, he let out a snort of laughter. Trust a child to name her for a feature that adults feared to mention within her hearing. Outside the window, Miranda was grimly clutching ridges on the the … Shepard had to admit it: that creature out there looked exactly like what he imagined a dragon would … dragon's neck, the look of terror on her face clear even through her breather mask.

"Be nice, Cal," Ri said. "Put the poor lady back in the airlock."

"But she say Cal not real!" Cal answered, the petulance in his voice so strong that Shepard could imagine the creature out there stomping its foot.

"You're real! You're real!" Miranda cried out, the terror on her face also coming through in her voice.

"Oh, all right," Cal said. Shepard tried to imagine the dragon pouting, and felt himself dangerously close to laughter.

Tali laughed, and Ri shook her head, an indulgent smile on her face. Fred's face began to lose its look of rage, and instead acquired a look of amused calculation.

"Cal," Fred said, "I think Miranda needs to see how many ships came over. Why not take her on a tour around the ships, and introduce her to the ones who want to talk?"

"I'm going to get you, Fred!" Miranda called. "You are _dead_ , you hear me? _Dead!_ "

"Uh-huh," Fred said. "Enjoy your tour!"

"That was mean, sweetheart," Ri chided Fred, laughing.

Tali was laughing so hard, she couldn't say anything. She leaned against Ri, her head bowed, her whole body shaking with laughter.

"Big brothers are _supposed_ to be mean," Fred said, joining in the laughter. "Thanks, squirt."

"Yay!" Cal crowed. "Cal made Daddy laugh!"

"Big brothers?" Ri asked, confused.

"It's a long story, love," Fred said. "Let's just say, I put an old ghost to rest while I was here. Now, let's see what we can do about putting a fleet into shape for taking on the Reapers."

"Commander?" Joker called. "Requesting permission to see Dr. Chakwas."

"What for?" Shepard asked. If Joker was requesting permission to see her, rather than just getting out of his chair to see her, something must be wrong.

"I'd like to see if she can give me something for hallucinations," Joker said.

"That's not a hallucination," Shepard laughed. "That's an eight year old boy."

"A dragon the size of a frigate, with Miranda clinging to its neck, is an eight year old boy?" Joker asked, his voice cracking. "I think I'd like permission to have a nervous breakdown now."

"Why you afraid?" Cal asked. "Cal want to know where best place is for asteroid racing!"

"For … asteroid racing?" Joker asked, his voice still unsteady, but the curiosity was enough to keep him from the edge.

"That right!" Cal said. "Cal is Solar System Champion in Unprotected/Vacc Suit Class!"

"What is asteroid racing?" Joker asked.

"Daddy! Explain!" Cal demanded as he did a barrel roll around a geth scout ship and zoomed off, Miranda still clinging to his neck.

"We find an asteroid belt that's got a really high density," Fred said. "Then we mark out a course through it, hitting all the densest pockets as waypoints. Then, we get the craziest fighter jocks out there to lay down entry fees, and the first – sometimes only – one to get to the finish line is the winner. The only rules are that you cannot directly attack the other racers, either with your own ship or with ally ships, and you have to hit all the waypoints – in order – before crossing the finish line."

"And you let your eight-year-old son do this?" Shepard asked, surprised.

"Can you imagine me _stopping_ him?" Fred asked. "Besides, it keeps him in practice for playing with scylla."

"It's actually fun," Ri said. "We have several classes, from factory stock to unlimited, with different weight classes in each main class. I usually do pretty good in the 100-ton Stock class. Fred's the master of Unlimited Fighter class, of course. Miri's top of the ranks in Stock Fighter. She's usually not so sure about the mods Fred makes to his racers, and sticks to flying Manfred when she's racing."

"Manfred?" Shepard asked.

"He's a Valkyrie," Ri said. "He's also the reincarnation of the Red Baron, whoever that is. A real gentleman, even when he's trying to shoot you out of the sky. I've actually seen him offer scylla a chance to surrender, before blowing them into luggage."

"That sounds like it could be fun," Joker mused. "Commander, do you think …?"

"It's part of how we weed out prospective fighter jocks," Fred said. "We lay out our course in an asteroid cluster that's as dense as the Collector debris field. The wannabes never make it out the starting gate. Anyone who makes it to the finish, regardless of how, is guaranteed a job in our fighter squadrons. The _winners_ can pretty much write their ticket with any company that needs space pilots." Fred gestured out the window. "All the organic pilots out there are asteroid racing contenders. Most of them have stepped up into the unlimited classes, too. If you need someone to fly something – anywhere – there's plenty of them available."

"You know," Zaeed commented, "something like this would go over big on Omega. The belt's dense enough, and the house percentage on the gambling would make whoever controlled it a small fortune."

"Aria would insist on her percentage," Shepard mused. "Still, it has potential. We need to recruit crews for our new ships. Omega is as good a place to start as any."

**April 13, 2185  
Omega Nebula  
Sahrabarik System  
Omega**

"You want me to do _what?_ " Aria asked, giving Shepard a look that showed she thought he was insane.

"Sponsor an asteroid race," Shepard said. "It'll bring in more customers, you'll get a decent take from your percentage of the house on the gambling, and it'll clear out some of the local hotheads so your staff don't have to do it."

"This sounds too easy," Aria said. "What's the catch?"

"The catch," Shepard said, chuckling, "as you put it, is that you'll have to keep the course clear of spectators and interlopers during the race." Then he grinned, before adding, "Or my people could keep it clear for you."

"Your people?" Aria asked. "The last I knew, your people consisted of the crew of the Normandy."

"Things change," Shepard said. He reached up to key his radio and said, "Bring 'em in." He smiled at Aria and said, "As I said, things change. Your people can update you on what just arrived. If you're interested, give me a call. I'm going shopping." He stood and walked away, Jacob and Miranda flanking him on his way across the club.

"That was cruel," Miranda said, amused.

"She's not going to know what to do with us," Jacob said. "We're big enough to compete with the merc companies now."

"Good," Shepard said. "Aria's too comfortable. She needs some excitement in her life."

"And we're just the group to give it to her," Miranda said. She laughed and keyed her radio. "Cal, honey? Do you and MJ want to go shopping with me?"

"Ooh! Aunt Miranda gonna take us shopping?" Cal replied, his voice filled with excited happiness.

"You want to take two children shopping in Omega?" Jacob asked, giving Miranda a look of surprise.

"No," Miranda said, grinning. "I want to take Cal and MJ shopping in Omega. It'll be fun."

"Aunt Miranda, huh?" Shepard asked, chuckling.

"Cal's a good kid," Miranda said. "I like him. He knows how to show a grown-up a good time."

The trio made their way to the docking ring, through the usual beggars and pickpockets that littered this district of Omega, without leaving any additional dead bodies behind.

Jacob stepped over an unconscious pickpocket and said, "You could have just broken his arm, you know."

"I know," Miranda said. "But then he'd be unable to work for weeks, at the least."

"He's a pickpocket!" Jacob said. "His idea of work is stealing from people."

"Yes," Miranda said. "Your point?"

They were almost at the Normandy's port when Cal and MJ nearly bowled Miranda over with excited cries.

"Aunt Miranda!" Cal cried happily.

"Aunt Miranda!" MJ cried.

Miranda crouched and hugged both children, a happy smile such as Shepard had never seen before on her face. When she stood, one child holding each hand, she turned toward Shepard and Jacob, and announced, "We'll catch up later. The market district is calling."

"What will you do if you run into trouble?" Jacob asked.

Cal pulled a gun out of a pocket – a pocket that was much too small to have held it. MJ giggled and grinned with an "I've got a secret" look on her face. Miranda smiled, her old familiar smugness back, then winked at Jacob and led the children toward the market district.

Shepard chuckled and turned back to the port, Jacob close behind.

###

"Aunt Miranda?" MJ asked, looking up with big eyes, while standing over claw-marked chunks of a batarian's body. "Will Mommy Ri be mad that I broke the batarian?"

"No, sweetie," Miranda said. "She won't be mad. You did a good thing."

"OK!" MJ said, bounding ahead toward an open-air food stand. "I'm hungry!"

Miranda chuckled indulgently as she and Cal followed MJ to the food stand. "Give us three orders of skewers, and a plate of steaks," Miranda told the salarian behind the counter, while MJ and Cal clambered up onto stools.

The salarian looked nervously from MJ to Miranda, then scampered to fill the order. MJ polished off her skewers and steaks, and half of Miranda's skewers, in the time it took Miranda and Cal to eat theirs. Lunch finished, the three wandered off, each with a large Slushie in hand.

Cal ran ahead, to the booth that Miranda remembered had been occupied by a young quarian on Pilgrimage when Shepard had first come here, but was now being used by other booths as a place to store their excess products. MJ followed him and dove into the piles, letting out squeals of excitement at various discoveries, mostly mysterious to Miranda.

"Oooh!" MJ squealed happily as she stood up, holding a small arthropod in one hand. The creature snapped uselessly at her with its claws, while making squealing noises. She stuffed it into her backpack, while exclaiming, "Uncle Mike's gonna love this!"

"Uncle Mike's going to love that?" Miranda asked. "It's just a kratykt. Batarian answer to rats."

"Rats are boring!" MJ declared. "Only the Qlets like them!"

"The Qlets?" Miranda asked.

"Q and Qella's hatchlings," Cal said, as MJ dove back into the piles. "They only come into this world when their mommy or daddy comes."

"Only come into this world?" Miranda asked.

"They live in Dreamland," Cal said, sounding serious for the first time since she'd met him. "Couatls. They protect humans from Things."

"Things?" Miranda asked. "What kind of Things?"

"Things Man Was Not Meant To Know," Cal said. Miranda hadn't thought a child was capable of capitalizing words that way, but he'd pulled it off, somehow. Whatever it was, he obviously thought it was important – more important than Reapers, even.

"Things are fun!" MJ announced, reappearing from the piles. Then she pouted. "Mommy only lets me shred them when grown-ups are around."

"Things are _not_ fun," Cal declared. "Things are _dangerous_."

That took Miranda aback. Cal, who had not yet seemed particularly perturbed by anything he'd encountered, who was nearly as large as the Normandy 2 had been, considered these … _Things_ … dangerous. That was kind of frightening.

"Duh!" MJ declared. "That's why they stink!"

"That's why they stink?" Miranda asked.

"Cynocephaloi detect evil," Cal said. "Not as good as bubasti, but good enough. Evil smells bad. The worse the evil, the more it stinks."

"Cynocephaloi?" Miranda asked. "Is that what MJ is?"

"Yup!" Cal declared. "Mommy, and MJ, and Alex." He shook his head sadly. "The only ones we know of still alive. DSS killed Alex's family. They were the only ones who would have known if there are more." He grinned. "Daddy is, too, sort of. Daddy's _lots_ of things."

"All done!" MJ announced, moving to join Miranda and Cal. She looked up at Miranda and said, "Let's go! I wanna see the big guy's shop!"

"The big guy …," Miranda mused, before realizing that MJ had to be talking about Harrot, the elcor who ran a shop near the food stand where they'd picked up lunch. "All right, let's go."

MJ bounced ahead, laughing cheerfully. She jumped up on the counter in Harrot's Emporium and poked at the elcor. "What's your name? Where are you from? I never met someone like you. Do you have good stuff to sell?"

"Confused: you look like a human, but do not smell like one," Harrot said. "Curious: what species are you?"

"I'm a Child of Yinepu!" MJ declared. "I'm from Earth, just like humans! My name is MJ!"

"Amazed: I did not know Earth had more than one sapient species," Harrot said. "Friendly: My name is Harrot. I am an elcor. My species comes from Dekuuna. I sell salvaged goods."

"Yay!" MJ declared, hugged one of Harrot's front legs, and asked, "What kind of neat stuff do you have?"

"Sly amusement: You will have to look through my stock to see what you like," Harrot said. "I will give you the same discount I give your friend Shepard."

"You know Uncle Shepard?" MJ asked. Miranda had to laugh at that. She was going to have to tease Shepard about it when she got back to the Normandy.

"Proudly: Commander Shepard buys salvage from me whenever he comes to Omega," Harrot said. That was stretching the truth a bit, Miranda knew, but they _did_ buy from Harrot whenever he had something useful.

"Yay!" MJ squealed, and dove into Harrot's stock.

###

"What did you buy?" Fred asked, looking at MJ and Cal's combined haul.

"Good stuff!" MJ replied, bouncing excitedly. " _We_ know what you like!"

Fred picked through the pile, grinning as he identified a number of useful items, ranging from some pristine processor chips to droid parts that could be recycled into spare parts for worker platforms.

"You did _good!_ " Fred said, giving MJ and Cal a matching set of hugs. "You're right! You know _exactly_ what Daddy likes."

MJ grinned and hugged Fred back, then bounded off to join Aunt Miranda, who was examining something interesting. Cal hugged Fred back and grinned happily.

"Daddy's gonna have asteroid races?" Cal demanded excitedly.

"Yup!" Fred said. "Shepard's got it all set up. We're looking over the entrants right now. You're the only one who's entered in the Unprotected class, so I guess you get to set the record for everyone else to shoot for."

"Daddy won't enter?" Cal asked.

"Daddy's going to enter in Stock Fighter class," Fred said. "Daddy's new Valkyrie hasn't Awakened yet."

"Wow …," Cal said, surprised. "Valkyries never take _this_ long to Awaken!"

"I know," Fred said, sounding worried. "Something's not right. So far, Rael's the only one who's Awakened. It's just not right."

"Maybe we too far away from other species?" Cal asked "Spirits not know where to find us?"

"Maybe, squirt," Fred said seriously. "That could be the case. We'll just have to wait and see what happens." He grinned. "So, you gonna put a bet down on Mommy Ri's race?"

"Daddy!" Cal protested, laughing. "That's like stealing chocolate from scylla!"

"Yup!" Fred said, grinning. "So how much do you want to put down?"

"How much is Daddy putting down?" Cal shot back.

"Daddy's going to wait until he sees how many people bet against her," Fred said.

"Daddy's learning!" Cal crowed, and hugged Fred. "Uncle Sven would be proud!"

"Uh-oh," Fred teased. "Uncle Sven would be proud? I think I'm in trouble."

"Silly Daddy!" Cal laughed. "Cal go find Mommy Tali now. Uncle Mike said we not bother her yesterday. Yesterday over."

"Be nice," Fred laughed, ruffling Cal's hair. "Go have fun, squirt."

Cal bounded off happily, and Fred went back to picking through the haul he and MJ had brought. Damn, he was proud of those two! They were growing up right, with an eye for good parts, a strong sense of who they were, and didn't take guff from anyone, including their old man. He felt a tear of happiness and pride coming to his eye.

"Let's see," Miranda commented. "I just saw Cal bounding off to find 'Mommy Tali', and MJ just left me to find 'something interesting' when my blueprints no longer gave her any mistakes to point out, so this must be the sight of paternal pride I see."

"Hey, imoutochan," Fred said, making no attempt to wipe away the tear. "MJ pointed out mistakes in _your_ plans, huh? I thought you didn't _make_ mistakes."

"I just don't let anyone see it when I make mistakes," Miranda said, chuckling. "Those two are something, aren't they?"

"They sure are," Fred said, proudly. "They seem taken with their Aunt Miranda, too." He paused, thoughtfully. "What about Aunt Oriana, though? I haven't seen her around much."

"She's been working at the main office," Miranda said. "She's decided that if she's going to get dragged into my life, she's going to make herself useful. And the way she sees it, making herself useful means managing our business affairs so us 'batshit crazies with big guns' don't have to."

"I'm never living that one down, am I?" Fred asked, looking as if he didn't particularly care to live it down.

"No, you aren't," Miranda said, grinning. "I should take you on a walk through Omega, just so I can watch what happens when the mercs or vorcha try to jump you."

"You want a bloodbath?" Fred asked, his expression a cross between serious and disappointed. Miranda felt a twinge of guilt at having triggered the disappointed part of that expression. "I've been researching this place. The big three companies alone are enough for me to go in and clean house, except if I did that, the smaller companies that they've been keeping in check would get big ideas and start stomping on the people that the big three have only been extorting protection money from."

"You … have a good point there," Miranda said, softly. She looked down, wondering what had happened to the cold-hearted bitch she had been before getting to know Shepard, until she felt a hand cup her chin and gently force her to raise her gaze.

"Hey, imoutochan," Fred said softly. "We both have pasts we're not happy about, OK? Admittedly, mine doesn't include membership in a terrorist organization, unless you believe the DSS propaganda, but I'm still not going to let you beat yourself up over who you used to be. That woman is dead." He grinned. "And besides, can you imagine trying to explain to Cal or MJ why you're sad?"

"Cal … already knows," Miranda said. "He touched my mind while I was riding him, and my memories kind of all came out before I could stop them. He has … a unique way of looking at things."

"Let me guess," Fred said, with a grin. "You broke it, you fix it, right?"

"Yes," Miranda said softly. She looked into Fred's eyes sadly, as she whispered, her voice cracking, "Some things _can't_ be fixed."

"Has Cal or MJ told you about her ability to smell evil?" Fred asked.

"Why is gainax lady sad?" a small voice asked from behind Miranda. She spun and looked around wildly, then looked down to where the voice continued, from near her feet, "Evil people don't feel sad about bad things they did."

At Miranda's feet was a kitten, with green eyes and black spots against a pale silver background. Its nose, lips, and eyes were outlined in jet black, and the tip of its nose was black. The kitten looked up at her with surprising intelligence in its eyes, and she heard it declare, "Aunt Lauren says everyone deserves a second chance. At least, as long as they don't smell evil. You don't smell evil."

Miranda crouched to scoop up the kitten, which ignored her attempt to lift it, and leaped onto her shoulder, once it was in range. The kitten wrapped itself around the back of her neck and settled in, as if it had decided she needed a purring neck scarf.

"I did bad things before I joined Shepard," Miranda said. "I … was a bad person."

"Not bad anymore," the kitten declared. "You did bad things? You do good things now."

"I try," Miranda said. "It's hard, though, when I know the man I did the bad things for is still out there, still doing bad things to other people."

"We find him," the kitten declared. "We _fix!_ "

"Fred?" Miranda asked. "Would it bother you if I told you that I approved of MJ killing a batarian this afternoon?"

"Nope," Fred said. "She wouldn't do it if he wasn't evil. Even then, she'd mostly just try to avoid him unless he did something to force her to shred him."

"He did," Miranda said. "I think he was trying to kidnap her."

"Kidnap MJ?" Fred asked, laughing. "The only way he'd be able to do that is if he managed to overcome her Ravenfield. Anything less would only give her a chance to get a good sniff of him. And her mother and I have always taught her that a Child of Yinepu is not just _allowed_ , but _expected_ to shred evil things."

"Child of Yinepu," Miranda mused. "That's what she told Harrot she is. Cal called her a cynocephaloi."

"That's right," Fred said. "Just like bubasti are Children of Bast, cynocephaloi are Children of Yinepu." He reached out to scritch the kitten between the ears. "We're from two old lines, species that are literally descended from gods, dedicated to protecting the world from evil."

"So Cal was right when he said you're one, too?" Miranda asked.

"Yup," Fred said, cheerfully. "It's not that simple for me, of course, but that's the basics."

"What do you mean, not that simple?" Miranda asked, idly reaching up to stroke the kitten, which rewarded her with deeper, more intense purring.

"You see," Fred said, "I'm not just a Child of Yinepu. I'm also Raven Firethief." He scowled. "That's why the bastards at DSS are able to banish me. Their sorcerers seem to specialize in banishing spells, which only work on beings of extradimensional nature. Like demons, devils, heroes, gods, and spirits. Including totem spirits, which is what I am."

"Heroes are extradimensional in nature?" Miranda asked, obviously confused.

"Back home," Fred said, "there are two kinds of heroes. There's the mundane kind, which includes ordinary people, of whatever species, who go out of their way to help the innocent. Then there's the old-fashioned, supernatural kind, who are people with divine or demonic blood somewhere in their family tree. You could say that bubasti and cynocephaloi are all heroes, by definition. Other people who qualify as the second kind of hero include people like Arthur Pendragon, who was actually a reincarnation of Sigmund – or was it Siegfried, I can never remember which one came first? - Heracles, the Thunder Twins, Vainamoinen, Ambrosius Aurelianus, hell, even Willow's a hero by the old-fashioned definition, as well as the mundane. Edgar, make a note to have Michael include Willow in that banishment protection magic he's researching."

"Got it covered, Dad," Edgar said. "I hadn't even considered that she'd need to be included."

"Neither had I," Fred said, frowning. "We'd better start making a list of who all needs to be included, before someone else gets caught in one of these spells."

"You realize," Miranda said, "that you are going to have to demonstrate these … spells … to me. Or have one of your friends demonstrate."

"A little skeptical, are we?" Fred chuckled. "Hey, fuzzycuteness. Where's Aunt Theresa?" He paused. "No, wait. Strike that. Where's Michael?"

"Aww," the kitten pouted, its ears playfully tilted forward. "Uncle Fred not want to see Aunt Theresa summon piece of sun?"

"Not in the middle of a getta city, no," Fred said. "I know. Is Aunt Lauren here?"

"Yup!" the kitten announced. "I go fetch!" It proceeded to leap off Miranda's shoulder and vanish down the corridor at a kitten-speed run.

"Wow," Miranda said softly, once the kitten was gone. "My neck feels better than it has in months."

"Kittens know just the right spots to knead," Fred said. "I'd swear it's special kitten magic."

"Not just kittens," said a black woman with amber eyes and an amused – and smug – smile. "We never lose that particular talent. We just get more … particular … about who we use it on."

"Hey, Lauren," Fred said. "Miranda's still skeptical about the whole magic thing, despite being surrounded by bubasti, cynocephaloi, dragons, and elves."

"When you put it _that_ way," Miranda growled at Fred, mock-menacingly. Fred grinned shamelessly back at her.

"Please excuse me if I don't banish Fred somewhere else," Lauren said, "regardless of how tempting it may be at the moment. His wives would kill me."

"Damn," Miranda mock-pouted. "So, you can do these spells Fred talks about?"

"When I have to," Lauren said. "Mostly, I'm an archaeologist. The magic I use is primarily oriented toward helping with my researches."

"Oh," Miranda said. "Like the woman Shepard loves. I understand."

"She's a biotic though, right?" Fred asked. "Entirely different thing."

"How?" Miranda asked.

"Magic involves the manipulation of mana," Fred said. "Remember how I said the Reaper was broadcasting on neural frequencies? Mana can be detected on neural frequencies, as well. At last, the ordinary mana most ordinary spellcasters use can be. What priests and wizards use is something else entirely, that we won't get into right now."

"Mostly," Lauren said, "what I use spells for is simple things, like translating texts I don't recognize, moving debris that's covering an artifact I don't want to risk damaging by uncovering it manually, and flash-frying pirates who think that the delicate little thing, all alone in the desert, is an easy mark."

"So how does that differ from biotics?" Miranda asked. "Other than the translation thing, which we get automatically whenever we connect to the extranet and download the latest language files, the other things you've described are ordinary biotic abilities."

"For starters," Fred said, laughing, "spellslingers don't have to ground themselves out after using magic. At least, they don't have to ground out static charges that could fry a motherboard."

"Better watch it, _big brother_ ," Miranda growled, "or the next time I need to ground myself, I'll use you as my grounding rod."

"All you'll do is feed him," Lauren snorted. "Functionally, there's not really a difference. The methodology is different, and depending on how you perform magic, that could be any degree of difference from nonexistent, to fairly extreme."

"Good point," Fred said. "Biotics are more of an innate thing, than spells or rituals. Maybe we _should_ get Michael to demonstrate."

"Or get him to swap places with Q," Lauren suggested. "That would make some of the kittens happy, too."

"Especially if the Qlets come with, eh?" Fred chuckled. "You have a good point there. Oh! Has Aex found them yet?"

"No," Lauren said. "I hope she does, soon. Even over the radio, she's becoming … difficult. Frustrated. Angry. Scared."

"I know how she feels," Fred sighed. "When I learned what happened to them, I wanted nothing more than to hunt down the Reapers and tear them apart for what they did. It's … a good thing Cal and MJ distracted me."

"I'm thinking of getting some basic telepathy scrolls from Michael and going to help Alex," Lauren said. "Mike's needed here, and Cal's got his Daddy to babysit, so I'm all Alex has to help her."

"You have a point," Fred said. "Sally can't talk to them without spells, either, and your self-discipline is infinitely greater than hers. Needless to say, you're the best choice. Do you need me to set you up with one of the kids, to take you out there?"

"I'd appreciate it," Lauren said. "Amelia knows me, and can carry extra supplies if we need them. Besides, her crew section is a whole lot more appropriate than a fighter's cockpit for the … therapy … I'm going to have to engage in."

"She's _that_ messed up?" Fred asked softly. "Shit. Take whatever you need. Take all the time you need. But, please, for everyone's sake, find them and make sure they're safe."

Lauren nodded, shifted down into a lioness with coal-black fur, and padded toward the rooms Michael and Theresa Powers had claimed, at a pace that was just short of a run.

"Them?" Miranda asked. "Are you talking about the rachni?"

"I am," Fred said, still watching Lauren vanish down the corridor. "They'll find them. They _have_ to find them."

"Why so worried?" Miranda asked.

"Why so worried?" Fred snapped, spinning on her. For just an instant, Miranda worried she would have to defend herself against him. "Shepard told me the Reapers controlled them, forced them to attack other species! They only have one queen left! They're out there in the galaxy, so lost that Alex hasn't been able to find them in the four days she's been out there. She should have found them the first day, as soon as she jumped into their neighborhood. Instead, what's she going to find? No life signs, ruined hives, the obvious signs of battle, and probably some krogan skeletons. By now, she's probably worked up a really good hatred of krogans. You know, figures that the rachni were attacked by some previously unknown species, that wiped them out down to the last hive, and she was too late to help them, but she can damned well take revenge for them."

"That's a pretty bleak view of the situation," Miranda said, while privately agreeing that it made sense.

"I know Alex," Fred said. "If it doesn't involve composing or hunting, she has the patience of a mayfly. Not only that, the rachni are her friends. She never lets anyone hurt her friends, and if she can't stop someone from hurting them, she makes whoever it was pay. No one, but no one, gets away with hurting her friends. Period." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm worried for her almost as much as I am for them. She's perfectly capable of throwing herself into a frontal assault on an entire planet, if the people of that planet hurt her friends. I just hope Amelia can get Lauren out there quickly enough."

"She will," a sultry voice said from the nearest pool of shadows. "Nobody told me how sunny it is here, Fred. Aside from Alex and Lauren, does anyone need immediate aid?"

"Faern'ya," Fred said. "No, nothing else is immediate, that I know of. Did you bring any servants with you?"

"No," Faern'ya said. "I left them behind. I heard we were going into a war zone. There's always plenty of potential servants on a battlefield."

"True," Fred said. "Just try to pick from the enemy's bodies, OK?"

"Of course," Faern'ya said. "People tend to get upset if they see their departed friends among my servants." She chuckled, deep and throaty, a tone that made Miranda's libido sit up and take notice. "So, little sister, or new lover?"

"Little sister," Fred said. "Literally, in a way. So be nice to her."

"I always am," Faern'ya said, as she stepped out of the shadows. Now that she was in the light, Miranda could see why she hadn't been able to make her out in the shadows. She was only a little taller than a volus, but had the same slender, almost ethereal build and pointed ears that Irene had. On top of the delicate frame, she had black – no, make that a very, very dark blue-grey – skin, amethyst eyes, and hair that was so white, she should have stood out like a flare in the darkness. Then, a moment after she stepped into the light, the shadows moved to enfold her, and suddenly she was gone in the darkness again. A moment later, a hand extended, as the voice, more sultry than when she had first appeared, said, "Hello. I am called Faern'ya Rastain. I am delighted to meet you."

Miranda took the hand, and discovered that the appearance of delicacy was nothing more than camouflage. The grip she received from Faern'ya's hand was firm enough that she would not hesitate to rely on it if she were falling. "I am Miranda," she said. "Miranda Laws – Miranda Hartford." Then she chuckled and teased, "Or maybe it's Miranda MacManus. I like that name better than Hartford."

"Works for me," Fred said. "Fae, Miranda's exactly who you should be checking in with, to find out how you can help around here. I'm just one of the batshit crazies with big guns."

"That's usually the way it is," Faern'ya said, laughing musically. "So, you're in charge of volunteers, Miranda? Why don't we find somewhere private, where I can, mmm, discuss my qualifications with you."

If she didn't know better, Miranda would swear Faern'ya was trying to seduce her. Come to think of it, she didn't know better. Of course, from what she'd seen and heard so far, she might not object to what the smaller woman was offering by implication. It had been a while since she'd had a lover, and the males around here all came with complications. A woman, especially one from another universe, might be just the thing to eliminate that problem.

"That," Miranda said, making her decision, "sounds like a wonderful idea. Follow me, and we can have that discussion in my office."

"Would that be the office where the woman who looks like your sister is working?" Faern'ya asked.

"No," Miranda said, "but my office is next to that one."

"Well then," Faern'ya said, as the shadows expanded to engulf Miranda. A moment later, the shadows cleared, and Faern'ya and Miranda were gone.

"You wanted to learn about magic," Fred chuckled, once they were gone. "I think you're going to get a crash course. Should I have told her that Fae is as queer as a three dollar bill?"

"Nah," Edgar said. "If she hasn't figured it out already, she will shortly."

**April 15, 2185  
Omega Nebula  
Sahrabarik System  
Omega**

"Remember," Fred said, "this is just an exhibition race, so there's no need to go all-out."

"Daddy gonna hold back?" Cal demanded.

"No," Fred laughed. "No, I'm not going to hold back."

"Then Cal not hold back, either!" Cal declared.

"Just remember to leave enough of the course for the other racers," Fred said, laughing. Then he hugged Cal, kissed Ri, and called up to the Normandy, "All right, Joker. I'll be dropping the flag in just a minute. You set?"

"Ready and waiting," Joker said, his voice all but vibrating with excitement. "I can't believe so many of the crew volunteered to be a part of this!"

"Are you kidding?" Tali cut in. "A chance to show the rest of the galaxy how the Normandy handles? You would have had to tie us up to keep us away."

"Oriana?" Fred called.

"Just tell me when to close the betting window," Oriana replied. "We still have a line that runs half-way across Afterlife's floor."

"I can't believe we got people to bet on an _exhibition_ ," Fred said. "Oh, well. What odds are they putting on Cal and Ri's races?"

"Right now, they're running eight-five to one that Cal's going to hole his suit and have to be rescued," Oriana said. "And two hundred to one that Ri's going to get wiped out by an asteroid."

"Give me enough tickets to cover both of those," Fred said. "How about the Normandy?"

"Betting isn't so heavy there," Oriana said. "Right now, it's running about twenty to one in favor of the Normandy taking a hit."

"Give me enough tickets to cover that, too," Fred said. "I have faith in Joker."

###

"Your crew has become quite a bit larger," Aria commented, as Shepard settled into his usual seat in her private lounge. "And, quite a bit younger," she added, when MJ danced across the floor, looked into her eyes with the intensity she normally expected only from another matriarch, then flopped onto the couch beside her. She had to admit, even if she would never let anyone else see it, that this child was unsettling. Very unsettling.

"Why sit here?" the child asked. "Boring!"

"It's not always boring," Aria said, chuckling as she looked around at all the excitement that filled Afterlife, and considered the child's pronouncement. Boring, was it?

"Daddy said you probably have the best displays in Omega," the child declared. "I want to see the races!"

"You do, do you?" Aria asked. The child's excitement was infectious, she had to admit that. "Aren't you a bit young for asteroid races?"

"Uh-uh!" the child declared, shaking her head. "Mommy Ri is racing, and Daddy is racing, and Cal is racing, and Uncle Joker is racing, and I don't have my own racer yet, but I will soon, and when I do, I'll get to race, too!"

"Uncle Joker?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow in Shepard's direction. Shepard laughed softly and nodded in reply. Oh, well. She had seen Normandy listed on the program, but hadn't believed it was Shepard's Normandy. She should have known better, she guessed. She gestured Grizz over and quietly told him, "Put a hundred thousand down on the Normandy." She paused, thoughtfully, then added, "Put it down for completing the course in seventy-five minutes or less."

"But, boss!" Grizz protested. "Nobody's made it through that part of the belt in less than three hours!"

"Seventy-five or less," Aria said. "And I'll expect to see the tickets when you return.."

"Wow!" the child said. "You have faith in Uncle Joker! I only bet for ninety minutes! You really think he'll do seventy-five?"

"I've seen him fly," Aria said, giving the child a smile. "My name is Aria. What's yours?"

"Everyone calls me MJ!" the child said, grinning back at her. "That's for Miriam Junior. I'm named for my Mommy!"

"Your mommy is named Miriam, is she?" Aria asked. "She must be new around here.

"Mommy had to stay home, to keep Mommy Hel from being lonely," MJ said. "Mommy Hel couldn't come cuz it's the wrong universe. Aunt Elsie couldn't come, either. She's gonna be so unhappy! We get to shred stuff and she had to stay home!"

"Like batarians?" Aria asked. She recalled a shopkeeper babbling fearfully about a child suddenly sprouting claws and fangs and turning one of the local batarian chickenhawks into chopped meat.

"He was bad!" MJ declared. "Aunt Miranda said so! Besides, he smelled evil!"

"He smelled evil, did he?" Aria asked.

"Yup!" MJ declared, then climbed up on her knees and looked out over back of the couch, at the club. "Wow! You can see everything from here! Is that the display where we're gonna watch the races?"

"You can watch the races there if you want," Aria said, "but I have my own display up here, where only my friends – and Shepard – get to watch."

Shepard snorted, then nodded, smiling at her. Good. He understood. As for MJ, she gave the lounge a spark of excitement it hadn't had in centuries. Maybe she'd invite Patriarch up to watch the races. Who knew, he might like the little fireball, too.

"Yay!" MJ squee'ed, and turned around to bounce on the couch. "How long til the races start? Oh! Already? Daddy says Mommy Ri is ready to start her race!"

"Is that so?" Aria asked. "You talked to your daddy?"

"Yup!" MJ said, holding up her left hand, so Aria could see an elegant black wristwatch. The wristwatch projected a holographic eye, blinked at her, then went blank. MJ giggled. "Sid says he's _watching_ you!"

"Sid?" Aria asked.

"Yup!" MJ said. "Sid. He says his name is really Siddhartha, but it's OK for me to call him Sid. It's easier to say, anyway."

"You have an AI in your watch?" Aria asked. Shepard cringed. _Now_ , she was curious. She had never seen _Shepard_ cringe before.

"Sid is _not_ artificial!" MJ declared, stomping her foot. "You apologize to him!"

Shepard snickered. Aria had to admit, there was something almost intimidating about this child demanding that she apologize … to her watch, of all things.

The watch projected the eye again, rolled it to look at her, and then said, "Really, it would be best to apologize. Otherwise, MJ is going to continue fuming until you do. She takes insults to her friends _very_ personally."

Well, it didn't sound like an AI. Aria had to wonder how they'd done it.

"Very well," Aria said. "I am sorry I called your friend artificial, little one. He is very obviously a real friend to you."

"Daddy doesn't _make_ artificial intelligences!" MJ said. "He doesn't like slaves. I don't, either."

"Your daddy made this watch? I mean, Sid?" Aria asked.

"That's right!" MJ said, bouncing happily again. The resilience of youth – Aria almost envied her. "We gonna watch Mommy Ri race?"

"All right," Aria said. "Let's see."

Out on the main floor, the central display had changed from its view of her more talented dancers, to the starting area of the asteroid races. Aria pressed a button, and her personal display powered up, showing the same scene, in the center of her private lounge. At the moment, a golden disc-shaped ship, with a quad-turret in the center of each side of the disc, that was occupied by either lasers or particle beam cannons – from this distance, she couldn't tell – was occupying the center of the image.

"Yay!" MJ crowed. "Mommy Ri is flying with Hagbard! She's gonna set a record!"

"Hagbard?" Aria asked.

"Yup!" MJ said, pointing at the display. "Hagbard! He likes gold as much as Manfred likes red. Mommy Ri and Hagbard always fly best together."

As the view of the ship changed, Aria noticed that the ship was actually two-tone gold. Either that or one part was polished and one was matte, it was hard to tell. In any case, the surface of the disc had been divided into two, with a peculiar curved dividing line that caused the ship to form one of those odd human shapes. After dredging her memory for a few moments, the name "yin-yang" came to mind. On the shiny side of the line was etched a matte apple, with a shiny "K" embossed on it. On the matte side of the line was etched a shiny pentagon. Aria wondered if both faces of the ship had received the same treatment.

"… hundred ton class," the announcer, a perky feminine voice, said, "is Kad'rianna Salustan MacManus, flying the exploration ship and freighter, Hagbard Celine. I should note here that, back home, Ri and Hagbard have set several records in their class, from sixty minutes in Earth's asteroid belt to one hundred ninety-seven minutes in Imir's belt. Remember, folks, since it's unlikely that an asteroid is going to penetrate the shields on the ships you'll see today, we penalize them for impacting an asteroid by adding five minutes to their time for each asteroid they hit. How they avoid hitting the rocks is up to them, whether it's fancy piloting, excellent gunnery, or a combination of the two. I guarantee you'll see some fine flying out here today, so keep your eyes on your displays, and enjoy."

"That thing flew the Korlus belt in two hundred minutes?" Garka blurted out. "Impossible!"

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Aria said, smiling. This was already promising to be entertaining, and the race hadn't … there it was. The timer appeared in the top right corner of the display, while the ship leaped from its starting position and bored into the belt, headed for the first waypoint.

MJ sat down, her attention so fully focused on the display that she was even silent, as long as the display remained trained on the ship. Aria had to admit, whoever was flying that ship had real talent. It crossed the finish line, in a time of eighty-four minutes, twenty-two point three seconds, after some amazing feats of piloting, and only two penalties.

"Mommy Ri's gonna be unhappy about that," MJ declared. "She doesn't like making mistakes."

"She could hardly call those penalties mistakes," Aria said. "The rocks tagged her after she'd already flown past them. That was a good run."

"She's still gonna be unhappy," MJ said. "Oooh! Cal's gonna fly now!"

"… Unprotected/Vacc Suit class, contestants are allowed to touch the asteroids, but only with the soles of their feet. If a rock and contestant meet on any other part of the contestant's body, not only do the usual penalties apply, there's also a good chance the contestant may be leaving the course in a body bag. Our contestant in this class is Caelestis MacManus, age eight. Now, we normally don't accept contestants this young, but I believe you'll see, once he's out on the course, that Cal is more than capable of competing with adults. Let's see what kind of record he's going to set."

"That's fucking insane," Anto growled. "Giving a kid a vacc suit's bad enough, but letting him think he can race in that mess?"

"Cal can do it!" MJ declared, giving Anto the closest thing to a death glare Aria had ever seen from a child that young.

In the display, Cal launched himself from the starting area. As he crossed the threshold into the course, Aria rubbed her eyes and looked again. The boy had changed form, into something the size of a heavy fighter, with a long neck, long tail, four legs, and wings. A matched pair of cannons sprouted from his shoulders, which he used to open fire on the rocks directly ahead of him. With those cleared away, he spun, planted his feet on the one asteroid larger than him, and used it to kick off in a different direction. Oh yes, this was going to be a _good_ race. Aria leaned forward, right next to MJ, and let herself be swept up in the intensity of the race.

There was no doubt about it: Cal could do it. The timer read 42:03.17 when it locked down at the instant he crossed into the finish zone, and the cheering that rose from the main floor told Aria that the whole club had been focused on that boy's performance. She didn't know what species he was, but as long as he could fly like that, and still look like a cute little human boy when he wasn't flying, she didn't care.

Aria called up a display of her club accounts, and allowed herself to smile more broadly. As she had suspected, the good cheer among the customers extended to a spike in drink sales, as even those who had lost their bets against the boy joined in the celebratory drinks. It was just like when she had championship prize fights in the lower club: once people were caught up in the excitement, it didn't matter which side they had been on, until they took an accounting later. While they were in the club it was the excitement that drove them. She sent a message down to the storage rooms, ordering several kegs of the fastest-selling beers, as well as several crates of the liquors that were disappearing quickly, moved up to the bars. As long as the drinks kept flowing, people would stay happy. If the flow stopped while the goods were transferred, that could lead to trouble.

"… don't know if you can feel the excitement the way we are, but I tell you, folks, it's like standing under an O1 star out here. And it just keeps getting better. Our next racer is the founder of the Galactic Asteroid Racing Assocation. He's not flying his usual ship, instead using an ordinary factory stock Normandy Inc. VF1S Valkyrie. This one is only three months off the line, folks, and he's already using it for racing. That's how crazy our pilot is. Fred MacManus, callsign Raven, flying the Hugin. Now you'll get to see how a crazy fighter jock handles the course. And, yes, we _know_ that's repetitively redundant."

"Daddy!" MJ crowed, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"That's your daddy, is he?" Aria asked.

"Yup!" MJ said. "Daddy would be flying Max, but Max is helping Aunt Alex."

"Max?" Aria asked.

"Yup!" MJ said. "Max is Daddy's fighter. He's Sid's big brother."

"But he's not flying Max right now," Aria said.

"Nope!" MJ said. "Max is helping Aunt Alex. It's a _secret!_ "

"It is, is it?" Aria asked. This sounded interesting.

"Yup!" MJ said, then turned to the race. "Ooooh! Daddy about to start!"

Shepard chuckled and leaned forward, looking into the display alongside MJ. The first time the fighter transformed into a robot, a collective gasp rose from the crowd, and Aria could almost hear the thoughts whirling through the minds of the various mercs in the place. Did they realize how big a mess they were stirring up with their new fighter design? Given the look on Shepard's face, Aria had to guess the answer was yes, and that they had intended to stir it up. The fighter finished the course in 47:56.89, and a collective "ooh" of excitement rose from the crowd.

"If you're interested in learning how one of these fighters handles in person, find a Normandy recruiter and show us your credentials. We're looking for the best pilots in the galaxy, and if you don't know by now what we're hunting, you haven't been paying attention to the news vids. Rounding out our program is our very own Joker, flying the Normandy Mark Three. As you all know, the first Normandy was destroyed by a Collector cruiser two years ago. But what you may not know is that the second Normandy delivered a four million megaton message to a major Cerberus communications hub, just two weeks ago. Joker is here with the third Normandy, coming up on the end of her shakedown cruise, and is ready to remind Omega why he's the best frigate pilot in the galaxy."

"I don't recognize that voice," Aria said. "One of your new crew?"

"That's right," Shepard said. "Her name is Irene. She's insane. She carries disruptor missile warheads as hand grenades."

"You're right," Aria said. "She is insane. And you recruited her?"

"She volunteered," Shepard said, chuckling.

"Aunt Irene is _fun!_ " MJ announced. "Just stand _behind_ her and Aunt Jack!"

"Aunt Jack," Aria mouthed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She could feel a headache coming on. Shepard's laughter didn't help.

"Why does everyone do that when I talk about Aunt Jack?" MJ asked, in the most put-upon voice Aria could imagine coming from a child her age.

Shepard grinned, gesturing to indicate that since Aria had stepped in it, she could handle it. Aria shot him a 'just you wait until later' glare, which didn't faze him the way it should have. She had to admit it: Shepard was just way too much fun to have around. She was seriously risking letting her guard down – especially with the little fireball.

"Aunt Jack is … she has … problems," Aria finished, not quite sure how to break it to the child.

"Oh!" MJ said, dug into her backpack, and pulled out a bag of jerky. "Want some? Are you worried 'cuz Aunt Jack wants to make the rest of the world hurt like she does? I thought _everybody_ knew that!" She ripped open the bag of jerky and shoved a piece in her mouth, then offered Aria the bag while she chewed. The way she tore into that piece of meat reminded Aria of a varren tearing into a steak. It was rather disturbing. She swallowed, and added, "She just needs to visit Uncle Mike. He can make her not hurt so much."

"You mean," Shepard asked, "she's literally still in pain?"

"Duh!" MJ said. "Can't you smell it?" She blushed. "Oops. Sorry. I forgot that you can't. She really really hurts. But she won't tell anyone. That's dumb! How can anyone fix it if she doesn't tell?"

"Did you talk to Uncle Mike?" Shepard asked.

"Wow!" MJ squee'ed. "Did you see that? Joker made the Normandy do something impossible!"

"That's why he's her pilot," Shepard said.

"I think she's right," Aria said. She opened a secondary display and replayed the last few seconds. MJ was right: Joker had somehow managed to get the Normandy to wrap around an asteroid, while traveling at a speed comparable to Fred's in his fighter. She dismissed the secondary display and sat back to enjoy the rest of the run, already anticipating the additional credits that would be entering her account at the finish. When the final time of 64:08.10 displayed, Aria chuckled and looked past MJ at Shepard.

"Congratulations, Shepard," Aria said. "Your ship just earned me two million credits. That's a very nice finish to my day."

"Always happy to help," Shepard said, chuckling. "Shall we go find your daddy, MJ?"

"Yup!" MJ said, bouncing to her feet and putting her backpack on. She looked at Aria intently and said, "You be good!" Then she bounded off across the club, Shepard chuckling as he followed her, leaving Aria feeling a bit nonplussed.

###

"How is the recruiting going?" Shepard asked Oriana.

Oriana looked up from her seat in the stall she had rented when the Normandy and company had arrived that morning. "Not bad, Shepard. We'll have to weed them out, I'm sure, but we have enough that we can afford to."

"Excellent," Shepard said. "We can start on it tomorrow." He looked around and pinched the bridge of his nose. "MJ got distracted again, apparently."

"This is Omega," Oriana said. "Just listen for the reports of people being shredded."

"You don't seem particularly bothered," Shepard said.

"Why should I be?" Oriana asked. "MJ's a good kid. If she shreds someone, I'm going to assume they had it coming. Maybe not as readily as I would if a kitten shredded someone, but she's not going to deliberately kill someone who's not evil."

"She told Aria to be good," Shepard chuckled.

Oriana laughed.

"Aria," Zaeed said, and joined Oriana in laughter.

"It is, however, significant that she did not kill her," Samara said. "That would imply the capacity for change, perhaps even reformation."

"Wouldn't that be something?" Jack asked. "So, we got any bites?"

"Plenty," Oriana said. "We'll go through them tomorrow, unless you're feeling particularly sleepless tonight."

"Are you kidding?" Jack asked. "After that, I'm all wound up! Gimme those files, and I'll weed out the pussies so you don't have to deal with them."

Oriana gave Jack a thoughtful look, then nodded and handed the files over. "Thank you, Jack. I really appreciate this."

"Don't think I'm gonna do this every time you get new suckers," Jack said, as she took the files. "I'm no paper-pushing wimp."

"Of course not," Oriana said. "I'm much happier knowing that you'll kill anyone who threatens the cheerleader."

Jack stopped, turned, and looked at Oriana for a moment, then a smile slowly lit up her face. "Count on it, sugar. She may be the cheerleader, but she's _our_ cheerleader, damn it."

"Jack," Shepard said, "If you get the chance, would you stop in and say hello to Dr. Gryphon?"

"He's the guy who fixed up Tali, right?" Jack asked. When Shepard nodded, she nodded in return. "All right. He fixed up Tali. That makes him all right in my book." She hefted the stack of files and said, "I'll bug him when I'm done with these."

Once Jack was out of view, Shepard asked Oriana, "How did you know that was Jack's nickname for Miranda?"

"She told me," Oriana said. "The day after you rescued me from the Eclipse ship, Jack came to me and said … let me see if I can get this right …," she continued, in a dead-on impersonation of Jack's voice and mannerisms, "So you're the cheerleader's sister, huh? You'd better be worth the tears you cost her, cuz if you aren't, I'm gonna have to kick your ass." Returning to her own voice, she added, "It was kind of sweet, actually."

"I notice neither of you has killed the other, yet," Shepard said.

"No need," Oriana said, smiling faintly. "I told her that if I ever end up not being worth the tears I cost Miranda, she's more than welcome to kick my ass, but until then, I'd kick _her_ ass if she makes Miranda cry. She seemed to accept that as a suitable answer."

MJ bounded up at that point, a tiger-striped varren in tow. "He followed me home! He says his name is Urz! Can I keep him?"

"Urz?" Shepard asked, his face betraying shock, as he turned toward MJ and her friend. "Urz!" Shepard dropped to one knee and held out a hand. "Hey, buddy! How'd you get off Tuchanka?"

"He insisted on coming with me when I came on a buying trip," a krogan rumbled, barely-suppressed laughter adding an additional timbre to his voice. "Now I know why. He's a smart one, he is."

Urz slunk up to Shepard and sniffed his hand, then slobbered all over his face in an enthusiastic tongue bath. Shepard joined in the laughter, realizing how ludicrous he must appear, with a varren slurping his face so vigorously.

"Ratch!" Shepard said, laughing as he scratched vigorously between Urz's eyes. "Did you see the racing exhibition?"

"See it?" Ratch asked, his tone and expression indicating the absurdity of the question. "I won a total of a hundred thousand creds on it. I still can't believe there were idiots willing to bet against the Normandy. That's like betting against gravity. And those other pilots – I don't know where you got them, but you've got the start of a good little fleet there. You know where to go if you need marines, right?"

"Damned straight," Shepard agreed. "Just have to clear it with Wrex. Don't want to do anything that'll weaken Urdnot."

"Well, shit," Ratch said, grinning. "You got more brains than half the warriors in Urdnot. Anyway, I've got a ship full of goods I need to get home, and you've got a varren who's decided to stay with you. Seems like a good trade to me." His laughter rumbled through the stall. "See you on Tuchanka. Soon. You still have to tell the shaman that you didn't kill Grunt in whatever fool stunt you needed him for."

"You're right," Shepard said, rising to his feet and extending a hand. "I'll see you on Tuchanka, Ratch. Tell them I'm coming, will you?"

"Sure will." Ratch said, then grinned. "Your little girl is no ordinary human, you know. Given her scent, I'd say she's not human at all, regardless of how she looks."

"You're right," Shepard said. "She's not human at all. And it looks like she and Urz are getting along just fine. Maybe I'll let her be his babysitter when I'm not around."

"That could be trouble," Ratch laughed. "But you'll figure that out for yourself." He gripped Shepard's hand, shook it firmly, and said, "I'm out of here. See you back home."

"You'll let me babysit Urz?" MJ asked, bouncing happily. "I'll take real good care of him. I promise!"

"I know you will," Shepard said. "Now, we need to head back to the ship, so Aunt Miranda can have a cow about a varren messing up her nice clean floors."

"Urz won't do that!" MJ declared. "I'll teach him where to go."

"Aunt Miranda will have a cow anyway," Shepard said, laughing. "It's one of her jobs, right after reminding me how stupid whatever I'm planning to do is, and right before reminding me how much it's going to cost the company."

Oriana, caught in the act of drinking from her coffee mug, baptized Zaeed, Shepard, and Urz. Samara and MJ somehow managed to not be caught in the spray.

"You did that on purpose!" Oriana accused Shepard.

"If I had done it on purpose," Shepard pointed out, while wiping coffee off his face, "I would have moved out of the spray zone first." He grimaced. "Ug. I need a shower. I'm heading back to the ship."

"You and me, both," Zaeed said. "At least your varren can give himself a bath."

Urz looked up at Oriana reproachfully, then sat down and began licking himself clean.

###

"A varren," Miranda said, disbelieving. "You brought a varren aboard the Normandy."

"Not just any varren," Shepard said. "I brought Urz aboard the Normandy."

"Fine," Miranda said, throwing her hands up. "you brought Urz aboard the Normandy. He's still a varren!"

Shepard made a show of inspecting Urz, who stood patiently while the inspection proceeded, then scratched him between the eyes as he announced, "Yes, indeed. He is definitely a varren."

"He is an exceptional example of the species," EDI stated. "According to his records, Urz was a champion pit fighter for several years, longer than the lifespan of most varren, let alone most varren pit fighters."

"Wonderful!" Miranda grumbled. "Not only is it a varren, it's an exceptionally vicious varren."

"Does this look vicious to you?" Shepard asked, crouching to give Urz a proper scratching between his shoulders. "He's a sweetheart! And MJ's already made friends with him, and she'll be teaching him where to make his messes so that you don't have to deal with them."

"Oh, wonderful," Miranda groaned, rubbing her forehead. "MJ's going to teach him. Will the ship hold together?"

"Only if she doesn't teach him how to hold a screwdriver," Shepard said. "He's smart enough, we should be thankful he doesn't have opposable thumbs."

"You're so reassuring," Miranda groaned, while Urz looked up at Shepard with an excited posture.

"Sorry, buddy," Shepard said, scratching between Urz's eyes. "Unless you can demonstrate telekinetic power, I'm afraid tools aren't your friends. They're all designed for people with opposable thumbs." Urz let out a soft whine and curled up at Shepard's feet. "But look at the bright side. You won't be expected to earn your keep, except by keeping watch for bad guys. I _know_ you can do that."

"You're talking to the varren like it's intelligent," Miranda pointed out.

"He is," Shepard said. "He's smarter than some humans I've met, if you ask me." Urz licked his hand. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a date with my shower. Your sister baptized me in coffee."

"That explains your bedraggled look," Miranda said. "I'd thought your new pet had slobbered all over you." She paused and did a double-take. "Wait. Why did Oriana dump coffee on you?"

"Sprayed it, actually," Shepard said, as he and Urz stepped into the elevator. "She got me, Zaeed, and Urz. It had something to do with my description of your primary duties aboard ship." The doors closed, leaving Miranda fuming in the corridor, while Shepard and Urz rode up to Shepard's quarters.


	6. Chapter 6

**April 17, 2185**  
 **Far Rim**  
 **Dholen System  
** **Dina Station**

"Do you have a Companion-class platform who can manage the operations of a fuel depot here?" Shepard asked.

"We do," Nat said. "We can recycle heretic platforms for use by worker processes, and a Companion for interface with organic customers. It would be best if you have an organic who is willing to remain on the depot, though, as Companions are designed to interface with organics. Leaving one unbonded would lead to difficulties for the processes in the platform."

"Difficulties?" Shepard asked. "What kind of difficulties?"

"Until relays are installed between Charoum and Haestrom," Nat said, "any processes that are working on the Charoum platforms and refueling depot will be isolated from our central databanks on Rannoch. Our data shows that isolation of this nature leads to breakdowns in processes, as they are unable to update and recover from the central databanks. Data from the heretic databanks indicates that organics provide a stabilizing influence on dysfunctional processes, even if the organics are themselves dysfunctional While functional FTL comm is the best solution, an organic Companion will ensure that those processes working around Charoum will remain functional even if the FTL comm system is broken."

"Interesting," Shepard said. "So your people become unstable when isolated, too."

"Yes," Nat said.

"It makes sense," Tali said. "The geth were designed to network with each other. For any geth to become isolated from the rest would be a traumatizing event, as its higher order processes fail due to the inability of its lower-order processes to support them."

"So, we need to find someone who's used to working in isolated conditions, but still able to deal with human customers," Shepard mused. "Hmmm ... I have an idea." He hit the comm. "Rupert, if you have a minute, would you come to the briefing room?"

"On my way, Commander," Rupert replied.

"You're not going to take Rupert from us, are you, Shepard?" Tali asked.

"No," Shepard said. "I'm not interested in inciting mutiny, even against myself." He laughed along with Tali, before continuing. "The way I see it, Rupert worked the eezo rigs before batarian pirates took his family from him, so he should know people who fit what we're looking for."

"I think you're right," Tali said. "Brilliant idea."

The door to the briefing room slid open, and Rupert stopped just inside. "You called, Commander?"

"I did, Rupert," Shepard said. "I need your advice, and maybe some help. I'm looking for someone who can work on a fueling depot with geth staff. Know anyone who might fit the bill?"

"Give me some time to work it out," Rupert said, "and I should be able to come up with a list. You're trying to get this system up and running, even with the sun going freaky?"

"I am," Shepard said. "We have a few decades yet, at least, and the more resources we can pull out of here before the sun goes, the better for the rest of the galaxy.

"Make that a lot longer than a few decades," Dr. Gryphon said, appearing in mid-air over the conference table, then lightly touching down and stepping off onto the floor. "I've solved the sun problem. Dholen's not going to go red for a few million years, at least."

"You ... solved ... the sun problem?" Tali asked, staring at Dr. Gryphon, stupefied.

"Yeah," Dr. Gryphon said. "There was a machine that was generating a dark energy field around the core, so there wasn't enough gravity to keep it stable. I figure, now that the machine has been removed, the sun should stabilize and return to main sequence. There might be a few hiccups in the process, but nothing that should endanger anyone this far out. Gotha might get scorched a time or two, but that's about as far as it should go. Haestrom's completely safe. Increase the shielding around any stations in this orbit, and you'll be fine."

"There was a machine ...," Tali said softly. "So the dark energy was definitely artificial, then."

"Oh yes," Dr. Gryphon said. "Definitely artificial. I deactivated the machine before removing it, so you and Fred could study it when you have time. My first scan of it leads me to believe it was made by whatever species created the mass relays, though."

"How old is it? Were you able to determine that?" Tali asked.

"Just a couple thousand years," Dr. Gryphon said. "Not very old at all, really."

"So, its effect was strong enough," Tali mused, "to age Dholen from main sequence to red giant in only two thousand years?"

"Give or take a few hundred," Dr. Gryphon said. "I'm sure you and Fred can fine-tune it, if you want. I'm just guessing based on my readings of the systems near its core. They were the best shielded, so they weren't affected as much by radiation from the star."

"Am I the only one in this room," Rupert asked, "who's bothered by the fact that he just appeared out of thin air?"

Nat looked around the room, then said, "Yes."

"Sorry about that," Dr. Gryphon said. "I could have come in through the airlock, like a normal person, but I thought Shepard would want to know about this as soon as possible. So I teleported in."

"So you teleported in," Rupert said, shaking his head. "If you don't mind, Commander, I'll be in the kitchen, working on that list for you and fixing something for dinner."

"Go ahead," Shepard said. "And, Rupert? Thanks."

"Sorry," Dr. Gryphon said, after Rupert had left. "I didn't intend to upset him."

"Don't worry about it," Shepard said. "The crew is going to reap the benefits of his confusion. When Rupert is upset or confused, he makes elaborate gourmet meals while he tries to pull himself together."

"Oh," Dr. Gryphon said.

"Where did you put the device?" Tali asked.

"I found an old observatory on Haestrom, and put the device in one of its storage rooms. Don't worry. I cooled it down to about 100 C before I did, so it wouldn't melt its way through the floor. By the time you get to it, the rock should have absorbed the rest of the heat. Those old buildings are solid, even given their age. Doc, give Rael the coordinates."

"Already taken care of," Dr. Gryphon's wristwatch said.

"Thank you," Tali said. "Both of you."

"Glad to be of help," Doc said. "We didn't tell Dad about it, so you could surprise him with it yourself."

"Thank you!" Tali said, laughing. "That's very sweet of you."

###

"There's no doubt about it," Tali said, looking across the workbench at Fred. "This is Reaper technology. But why would they be killing stars?"

"The only reason I can think of is if the stars are the right mass to produce specific elements when they nova," Fred said. "But that means whoever's doing this is thinking millennia ahead."

"That doesn't make sense," Tali said. "There's already plenty of carbon and oxygen in the galaxy. There has to be another explanation."

"Well, let's find it," Fred said, bending over the device again. "Where's Mordin?"

"He said something about a conference with Dr. Gryphon," Tali said. "I decided to stay away."

"Probably a good plan," Fred agreed. "Put two genetic engineers in the same room, it could get scary."

"Mmm-hmm," Tali said, while looking at her omnitool's display. "Father, are these figures correct?"

"Of course," Rael said. "Why?"

"I think we have an answer for why the Reapers created this," Tali said. "You're on the right path, love, but these numbers say that their plan is far more involved than that."

"Oh?" Fred asked, as he moved around the workbench to join Tali. "What do you have?"

"Look at this," Tali said, pointing at her display. "It looks as if the device can fine-tune exactly how much dark energy it generates, both positive and negative. They may have started by turning Dholen into a red giant, but the device is designed so they could use it to generate a nova of any specifications, or bypass the nova stage entirely and collapse a star into a black hole."

"Any star," Fred hissed softly. "I think you've got it. Damn. How many of these devices exist, I wonder. And how many stars have them implanted?"

"One was one too many, in my opinion," Tali said. "We're going to have to survey the stars surrounding this system, and find if any of them are infected, and then work out from there."

Fred looked into the distance, distracted, then back to Tali. "Done. The kids are consulting with Doc to find out how Mike detected this one, and they're already heading out to do the survey."

"It doesn't make sense for only one star to be infected," Tali hissed, pacing from the workbench to the door and back again. "Maybe if it were a prototype, a test device. But this is too well made, too polished. It's not a prototype, it's a production model."

"Maybe we'll be able to discover what race the Reapers are using as agents," Fred said. "This is too small to have been made by Reaper appendages. We know the Collectors were focused on constructing the new human-form Reaper. So it's doubtful the Collectors were to blame for this. The question is, who?"

"It's not any of the races we're used to dealing with," Tali said thoughtfully. "Those that believe in the Reapers are terrified of them. Those that don't ... well, if they're working for them, they can hardly not believe in them."

"That means more exploration, you realize," Fred said. "If we're going to find new races, we're going to have to explore in areas that haven't been opened to the relays. EDI, can you ... no, Edgar, EDI, between the two of you, can you hack Citadel security and get the most recent galactic map updates? The top secret ones, not the public ones. We need to know every detail that the defense fleet uses when evaluating a system, cluster, or relay. Not just the 'keep out' notices, but the 'hostile race here, lost two scout ships and a probe' entries."

"Got it, Dad," Edgar said. "We'll get it."

"Edgar," EDI protested, "that is in violation of Citadel law. We could be erased, and our crew sent to prison."

"So," Edgar said, "we won't get caught. And I promise, when Joker learns just how much more information he has to work with because of it, he'll want to kiss you."

"Why would I want him to kiss me?" EDI asked, as her lights flashed a brilliant pink.

"Trust me," Edgar said, "you'll learn in time. Meanwhile, let's go get that data."

"You're awfully casual about Citadel laws," Tali said.

"I obey one law," Fred said. "Never commit aggression against another sapient being."

"With everything you've done since coming here, can you really say you've obeyed that law?" Tali asked.

"Yup," Fred said. "Aggression is the initiation of force. Every fight I've been in has involved defensive or retaliatory force. Not once have I initiated force against an individual who has not already aggressed against another person."

Tali sat down and rested her chin on her fist as she considered. "There was the time ... no, he was a slaver. What about the time ... no, he was trying to kill someone. What about ...." Eventually, she raised her head, her eyes flashing behind her faceplate, and said, "You, Mr. MacManus, are a strange man. With all your love of big weapons and destruction, I can not think of a single time you have initiated force against another sapient being. Now, come over here and give me a hug."

"Gladly," Fred said, laughing cheerfully as he moved to embrace Tali.

**April 17, 2185  
** **Uncharted Space**

"Kestrel calling Sparrowhawk," Lauren said, for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Damn it, Alex, answer your radio!" She sighed and leaned back in her seat, looked over Amelia's cockpit readouts, and asked, "You're sure this is where you picked up Max?"

"This is the place," Amelia said. "Give me a few moments to call him, and see what he has to say."

"All right," Lauren said. She rubbed her temples and hissed softly, "I'm worried. Alex never ignores my calls."

"I've got him," Amelia said. "He's about 100 parsecs spinward. Alex is with him, but she's told Deget to not respond to radio transmissions. If we fold, we can probably get there before she decides to leave for the next system."

"Do it, then," Lauren said. "If nothing else, it'll get us close enough that we'll have a better chance of catching up to her."

Lauren took a sip of catnip tea as Amelia wound up her fold engines for the jump. Everything shifted, and Amelia's Ravenfield blackened with the impact of a large chunk of spaceship. Outside the windows, Lauren saw a fully-developed furball. Or, at least, it would have been a furball if there were more than one fighter destroying the fleet of ships. The largest combat ships in the group opposing the fighter were frigates, although the freighters looked as if they had been retrofitted with heavy mass drivers and lasers. Most of the enemy fleet was composed of fighters, though. Their opposition immediately resolved on Amelia's identification display as Maximilian MacManus, the fighter Alex had taken on her quest to find the rachni.

Amelia rose a thousand miles, taking herself mostly out of the combat, and joined Lauren in observing the fight before deciding whether to join in. Alex's normal hard-hitting combat style was clearly in evidence, but not from Max. While Alex flew in just her battle armor, directly taking out her anger and frustration on the fighters, Max worked on the frigates, dodging their main guns, while positioning himself so that when one did fire missiles, a quick dodge would leave another ship in the missiles' flight path.

"I've verified the IFF on the enemy ships," Amelia said. "They're the property of the Blue Suns mercenary company. According to EDI, they have a big share of the piracy, hijacking, and slaving that goes on in this part of the galaxy."

"Well, then," Lauren said, "Let's take out the engines on the freighters, but leave the others for Alex. Don't get involved with the combat ships unless Alex is in trouble, or asks for help."

"Works for me," Amelia said. Lauren felt the rumble of Amelia's defensive turrets exiting their stowage bays and locking into place, then the soft whine of the main particle accelerators coming to power. "Ready whenever you are. My accelerators are at 100%, and I'm loaded with gold."

"Gold?" Lauren asked.

"It's heavier than lead, and it ionizes more easily," Amelia said. "I'm using Dad's prototype heavy ion cannons, which ionize whatever is loaded into my accelerator, and fire those ions in a beam." She chuckled, clearly amused. "We haven't tested their limits yet. The beams have punched through every ship I've fired them at."

"How many shots do you have?" Lauren asked.

"Each ammo block is good for one shot," Amelia said, "assuming all eight of my cannons fire at once. If I only use one turret, I can get two shots per block. I'm carrying six hundred ammo blocks in my feed bin." She snorted. "If I'd known we were going into combat, I'd have asked Dad to load me up with plutonium instead of gold. Oh, well. It's not as if we're going to need the extra kick."

One of Amelia's turrets locked on to the engines of one of the freighters, and all four cannons emitted beams of actinic light. The beams connected the turret to the engines of the freighter, which separated from the ship with a small explosion.

One of the frigates attempted to break off from fighting Max. He shifted from fighter to battroid mode, brought his gun pod up, and fired into the frigate's nose. The frigate's engines remained at the thrust setting they had been using, but without a pilot to control it, the frigate powered into the midst of the fighters, destroying two that had been too focused on Alex to notice its approach, and damaging three more that were hit by the edges of its exhaust stream.

Alex let out an enraged snarl and broke off from the fighters, tore the door off the frigate's airlock, and vanished inside. Three minutes later, the frigate exploded, and Alex flew out of the fireball to rejoin the battle, still in progress.

When Alex entered the frigate, the functional fighters turned their attention on Amelia. They swarmed into formation, then flew toward her at full thrust, exactly, Lauren assumed, the way they would if they were attacking a capital ship.

"I'm going out to meet them, Amelia," Lauren said. "Save your ammo for the freighters. Lasers should be more than enough for these guys."

"No need to do that," Amelia said. "I can take them out with my PD lasers. Watch!"

Suddenly, the lead fighter in each flight exploded, the pieces of the fighter pinging off his wingmates' barriers.

"Well," Lauren said, "I guess I will just sit back and watch. I should have known Fred would give you lasers that were strong enough to kill fighters."

"You know Dad's definition of under-gunned," Amelia laughed. "I'm a non-combat ship, so I only need enough weaponry to take out a single task group."

"Amelia!" Max called. "You got here before Alex insisted on leaving! Good!"

"Very good," Lauren said. "I'm noticing some activity on the planet. Did these shitheads manage to land anything before you engaged them?"

"No," Max said. "They showed up while we were scanning."

"Good," Lauren said. "How many more do you need to disable, Amelia?"

"I'm finishing the last one now," Amelia said, accompanied by the whine of her ion cannon firing. "I take it you want to land?"

"I do," Lauren said. "Max, once you've finished off these ships, tell Alex you're landing. Find us on the ground."

"Will do," Max said. "You realize she's going to be pissy?"

"I do," Lauren said. "I'll deal with it. See you on the ground."

Amelia retracted her turrets and began atmospheric entry. The signals from the ground clarified as soon as she was out of range of the combat, and she gave a happy squee through her cabin speakers.

"We found them!" Amelia crowed. "Look!"

Amelia's display lit up with an image of hundreds of rachni workers, swarming over the ground below. Simultaneously, she began playing a haunting, eerie tune.

"Song of the returning friend?" Lauren asked, trying to place which song she was hearing.

"Exactly," Amelia said. "We should be getting a response any ... there it is!"

A different song began playing, one with undertones of protective concern.

"Can we get a voice channel?" Lauren asked.

"Working on it," Amelia said. "Hold on .... There! All set."

"We have been looking for you," Lauren said. "We are friends, carrying gifts from a friend of Shepard."

"You ... are ... friends?" came the reply, after a few moments. "Shepard ... is ... our friend. We ... welcome ... you ... in ... Shepard's ... name."

"Thank you," Lauren said. "Where shall I land?"

"My ... children ... shall ... guide you," the voice said.

"Got it," Amelia announced. "They're giving me a good locator signal."

"Thank you," Lauren said. "We will be on the ground in ... two minutes."

"We ... look forward ... to meeting ... our ... new friend," the voice said.

"Max?" Lauren said. "Tell Alex we found the rachni."

"Got it," Max said. "I think I'll wait until she's done with the Blue Suns, though."

"Good plan," Lauren said. "We don't want any of them landing here. Not even an escape pod."

"I read you loud and clear," Max said. "We'll take care of the problem."

**April 17, 2185**  
 **SSV Normandy, Inc., Drydock  
** **Rannoch**

"Yes!" Fred yelled, punching the air with a fist. He wrapped his arms around Tali and swung her into the air, almost knocking components off his workbench as he happily yelled, "They found them!"

As soon as she felt deck under her feet, Tali gently pushed away from Fred and asked, "What did you say? You yelled so loudly my suit's noise dampers kicked in."

Fred laughed, hugged Tali, and repeated, "They found them!" at a much lower volume. "Amelia and Lauren found the rachni!"

"They did?" Tali asked, her voice filled with disbelief. Seeing the look of happiness on Fred's face, she repeated, "They did!" and embraced him. "This is wonderful!"

"Tali-Creator," Nat, resplendent in his new armored torso, called as he entered the laboratory from the corridor that led to the nearest server hub. "Who found what?"

"Amelia and Lauren," Tali said, turning to face Nat, "found the rachni."

"That is good news," Nat said. "We will inform the others."

"Thanks, Nat," Fred said. "They'll send us the details once they've talked with the queen, but they've found them, and made contact. Could you ask Shepard if there's any message he wants to pass on?"

"Doing so now," Nat said, after a moment.

"Fred," Shepard's voice called over the radio. "One of the worker platforms just told me your people have made contact with the rachni, and asked if I had any message to pass on. Is that right?"

"Yes," Fred said. "I asked them to notify you."

"All right, then," Shepard said, "tell the queen that I am happy she has done as well as she has, and that we are ready to share whatever information we can with her."

"Did you get that, Amelia?" Fred asked.

"Got it, Fred," Lauren replied.

"We ... are pleased ... that our friend ... Shepard .... is well," the rachni queen said. "We ... look forward ... to sharing ... with ... our friends."

Fred's face lit up in a joyous smile and he emitted a song that sounded somewhere between an audio synthesizer and an avant-garde orchestra. After a few moments, a similar song came from the radio, and the two songs wove through and around each other, like a freeform duet. Somewhere in there, a third voice was added, this one sounding like a melding of synthesizer, guitar, and canine vocal tones. Fred and the second voice adjusted their song to allow the third entry, and the music carried on for some time. Tali sank into Fred's lap, mesmerized by the beauty of the music, and curled up against his chest, content to be submerged in the song. Nat's voice entered the song, tentatively at first, then with greater assurance, until his digitized tones became a part of the greater symphony that filled the laboratory.

In his office, Shepard listened to the song, his eyes closed as he allowed himself to be swept up in its beauty. The worker platform left the office, unnoticed. Before the door could close behind it, Samara, surrounded by a veritable pride of kittens, entered. Hearing the music, the kittens began bouncing up and down excitedly, while setting up a storm of purring. Through the purrs, one word kept repeating, in a tone of excitement and happiness: "Rachni!"

Shepard opened his eyes and gave the kittens a mock glare, which they cheerfully ignored as they swarmed over his desk and into his lap. Samara sat opposite him, and smiled secretively as she watched the kittens engulf him.

"Shepard?" Tali's voice came over the radio. "If you happen to see her, would you ask Samara if she would come to the laboratory? I have a favor to ask of her."

"Well," Samara said, chuckling softly. "Perhaps what I was going to speak with you about will be delayed for a time. Enjoy the kittens. They have a remarkable talent for sniffing out corruption."

"They also have a remarkable talent for being distracting," Shepard said, as kittens pushed under his hands, demanding attention.

Samara laughed in reply as she left the office.

###

"You wanted to see me?" Samara asked, watching Tali, Fred, and Nat. Fred and Nat were still, over thirty minutes after Tali had made her request, a part of the music that she had heard in Shepard's office. Tali was standing near one of the workbenches, on which was a device that was unlike anything Samara had ever seen.

"Samara!" Tali said. "Yes, I did. Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Tali gestured to the device as she asked.

Samara approached the device and examined it closely, after glancing at Tali for permission to touch it. She attempted to lift on end, and estimated its weight to be on the order of 400 kilos. A panel was open near one end, revealing several small groups of controls and readouts. The other end terminated in a barbed penetrator spike, much like the probes the Normandy had used for tagging deposits of valuable minerals from orbit. Near the control section, a second panel was open, with two cables running from it to an instrument stand at the end of the workbench.

"My first impulse was that I had never seen anything like this," Samara said. "After further examination, I'm afraid I must confirm my first impulse."

"Thank you," Tali said. "That was what I suspected, but I had to be certain. You are the oldest member of our team, so you are the one most likely to have seen devices the rest of us have not. We must find the species that created this device, Samara. You are our best hope for finding them."

"The species that created this?" Samara asked. "Perhaps you should start at the beginning."

###

"What is that horrendous noise?" Grunt rumbled, irritated by the sound of Nat, Fred, and the rachni queen as it played over the radio in Shepard's office.

"That 'horrendous noise', as you put it," Shepard said, chuckling, "is the sound of our people talking with the rachni queen. We've found her, and they're arranging for our cooperative work with her children."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Grunt said. "O'Keer implanted a lot of information about the rachni, and none of it is good."

"That's the rachni that were controlled by the Reapers," Shepard said. "These rachni are free of that control, and are as eager to kill the Reapers as we are."

"So they're allies," Grunt said. "Good. There's not enough of my species left in the galaxy to take them down if they go bad."

"The Rachni Wars were caused by the Reapers," Shepard said. "They want revenge, as much as we want to eliminate the Reapers."

"I can work with that," Grunt said. He settled into a chair opposite Shepard, then asked, "What the hell is Urz doing here?"

"He went to Omega with Ratch," Shepard said. "Ratch was picking up a load of food and weapon components to take back to Tuchanka. Urz stayed with me."

"Miranda must be having a fit," Grunt laughed. "Wish I could have seen her face when you took him aboard ship."

"You can always watch the replay," Shepard said, grinning. "It was priceless."

"You should see what the kid's got him outfitted with," Grunt said. "I told her that her daddy needed to make guns like that for me."

"Urz is wearing guns?" Shepard asked. He thought about it for a minute, then chuckled. "Well, I _did_ tell him that his job was guarding the ship against bad guys. Sounds like he's outfitted for it, now."

"You got that right," Grunt said. "So what's our next move?"

"We need to visit Councilor Anderson at the Citadel," Shepard said, "then go to Tuchanka to recruit marines. I'm not hiring any krogans until Wrex approves of them."

"So why are we sitting around here?" Grunt asked.

"Just gathering the troops for the trip," Shepard said. He closed his desk's terminal and rose to his feet. "EDI, tell people we're loading up for a trip to the Citadel and Tuchanka."

**April 19, 2185**  
 **Citadel  
** **Human Embassy**

"For the first time in two years, I'm enjoying my position," Councilor Anderson said, extending a hand to Shepard. "The rest of the Council is in a lather, between the report you sent at the end of February, your disappearance immediately thereafter, and then your assault on a major Cerberus communications hub the beginning of this month. If they'd known you were responsible for shutting down Hartford Bioengineering, during that unreported month, they'd be even more upset, especially given the information about the company that I received from the Elysium government." He chuckled as he shook Shepard's hand. "It's been a pleasure, watching them twist themselves into knots as they try to find ways to deny the evidence in your reports. So, what brings you to visit an old man?"

"I'm building an army," Shepard said, as he joined Anderson in sitting around one of the human embassy's conference tables, "and I need your help to ensure it has nothing but the best soldiers possible. Since the Council is still trying to deny the truth, I'm going it alone. Well, not quite alone, since every single member of the team I built to take down the Collectors has stayed with me, and I have the support of two species that have intense personal reasons to hunt the Reapers. In fact, the two species that I'm thinking of are even willing to approach the Council for help, as long as I can guarantee that the Council will respond favorably to them, and not react with the same mindless hatred that some members of Council species have displayed when approaching them."

Across the room, Tali leaned against the wall of the balcony overlooking the Presidium, pointing out interesting sights to Fred, while Nat stood guard nearby.

"You have a special talent for making my life interesting, Commander," Anderson said. "I think I can guarantee that one of those species is not going to get a fair hearing from the Council. I remember reading the portion of your report that mentioned the schism in their ranks, but even though one of them helped you defeat Harbinger, the Council refuses to believe that it represents anything more than an aberration. They will not entertain the notion of friendly relations with the geth."

"That's too bad," Shepard said. "If they won't entertain the notion of friendly relations with the geth, they can't help me. My war strategy relies on the geth. And on the rachni. And on a few other species that the Council doesn't regularly deal with."

"Your war strategy?" Anderson asked. "I think you'd better tell me what you have in mind."

"As soon as I've exterminated the Illusive Man," Shepard started, only to silence himself as the embassy door slid open and Ambassador Udina walked in.

"Anderson!" Udina barked. "What is the meaning of this report?"

"Which report?" Anderson asked, holding out a hand for the datapad, while Shepard leaned back in his chair and gave Udina a cold smile.

"Oh," Udina said coldly. "Shepard. What are you doing here?"

"Discussing business with my Council representative," Shepard said. "Nothing that would interest you."

"Oh," Anderson said. "This report. I fail to see what's so hard to understand. Shepard destroyed a Cerberus communications hub, along with a Cerberus cruiser and six frigates. What's hard to understand is how it took you over two weeks to notice this report."

"What is hard to understand," Udina said, "is where Shepard got his hands on one hundred tons of antimatter, and why he chose to waste it destroying a minor terrorist base when it could have been used to fuel the Alliance fleet for the next ten years."

"Oh, that," Shepard said, waving a hand dismissively. "My mad scientists made it for me. It took them a little less than a month, while they were building me a new flagship. Which reminds me: Councilor Anderson, when you have a chance, I would love the chance to give you a tour of the Normandy 3. I think you'll like what you'll see."

"Commander Shepard," Anderson said, "I would love to take you up on that invitation. If the rest of the Council has trouble with it, they'll just have to learn to live with it. Now, you were saying?"

"Oh, yes," Shepard said. "As soon as I've exterminated the Illusive Man, I'll be able to focus my efforts entirely on the Reaper problem. Now that we know more of their weaknesses, my mad scientists are working on ships and weapons that will exploit those weaknesses." He looked up at Udina and added, casually, "Yes, Ambassador, if we happen to have left-over antimatter, we'll be happy to sell it to the Alliance, as long as we're not dealing with any of the officials who let Cerberus be established under their noses." He paused, then smiled predatorily and said, "No, strike that. We'd _love_ to do business with the Alliance officials who let Cerberus be established under their noses. Just don't expect to receive them in the same condition they were in when you sent them."

"You can not make threats against Alliance officials!" Udina barked.

"They ceased to be Alliance officials when they helped create Cerberus," Anderson shot back. "Be thankful we have a Spectre who's willing to deal with them, rather than having the whole sordid mess dragged out in courts and the media."

"If you're done with Chief Williams," Shepard said, "I'd like her as your liaison to my project. Preferably before I nail the Illusive Man, if possible. The sooner I have a liaison to your office, the sooner I don't have to worry about you being left out of the loop by too-helpful aides."

"Is that an accusation?" Udina growled, his face growing red.

"No," Shepard said. "Just a recognition that aides often have different ideas of what's important than their bosses do. So, by having a direct liaison to the man in charge, we bypass the difference in opinions."

Udina backed down with a grumble, while Anderson nodded to Shepard. "Williams is yours, as soon as we can get her to you."

"If she's not somewhere classified," Shepard said, "we can pick her up on our way back to our home base."

"On your way back to your home base," Anderson said slowly, while Udina scoffed.

"That's right," Shepard said. "The new Normandy can manage it."

Across the room, Tali snorted with amusement, while Fred grinned shamelessly. They had barely managed to avoid breaking into laughter at Shepard's mention of 'his' mad scientists, and were justly proud of their Normandy, with its improvements over both previous models.

"Your crew seems to agree with you," Anderson said. Tali laid a hand on Fred's arm, while he broke into open laughter.

"With good reason," Shepard said, rolling his eyes at Fred's loss of self-control. "Those three are responsible for the superiority of the current Normandy. With the design improvements they made during the construction of the current ship, we are far in advance of anything Cerberus can field, and significantly in advance of the Reapers, as well."

"I see," Anderson said. "Your quarian crewmember looks vaguely familiar. She reminds me of Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"With good reason," Shepard said. "She is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy now."

"Good day," Anderson said to Tali, while sketching a slight bow. "As for the other two ... I've never seen a geth wearing N7 armor before. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"He needed repairs," Shepard said. "And I had an old suit of armor I wasn't using any more. It was a perfect match. Nat is a Companion, specifically assigned to serve as Tali's Companion and one of my crew."

"He?" Anderson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He," Shepard said. "Now that I'm no longer fighting heretics, I've been able to discover what geth really are. Contrary to what we've been taught, geth are not inherently hostile. In fact, they make pretty good neighbors, as long as you're not trying to harm them."

"What about the quarians?" Anderson asked.

"What about us?" Tali replied. "We have wasted three hundred years, and millions of lives, wandering the galaxy. We could have gone home at any time, as long as we did not attempt to kill or enslave the geth. As much as it hurts to admit it, we brought our suffering upon ourselves."

"That's going to take some digesting," Anderson said, watching as Fred gathered Tali into a comforting embrace, while Nat rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "And your new human crewmember?"

"Fred MacManus," Shepard said. "He's a mad scientist. The majority of our upgrades are his inventions." He chuckled as Tali snorted, and continued. "He invents them, Tali makes them work, and Nat and the geth give us the manpower we need to build them."

"You realize," Anderson said, "working with the geth is what got Saren outlawed."

"I think that a better perspective on it," Shepard said, "would be that using the heretics to attack Council races got Saren outlawed."

"The Council is likely to see that as splitting hairs," Anderson said.

"Absolutely right," Udina growled. "As long as you're associating with geth, you're going to be in just as much trouble with the Council as you were when you were associating with Cerberus."

"Government," Fred snorted, before Tali could shush him.

"If that's the way it has to be," Shepard said, shrugging. "I _will_ protect the people of this galaxy from the Reapers, whether the Council backs me or not."

"And that's why you're a Spectre," Anderson said. "You know your duty, and you do it, regardless of whether others approve. If I happen upon any useful information, I'll be certain to pass it on."

"You're creating a political disaster," Udina growled.

"Which is more important? Saving lives, or making political points?" Anderson said. "Why don't you go back to your office and think about that for a while?"

Udina grumbled and stomped out of the office.

"He's still giving you ulcers, I see," Shepard said. "Too bad you can't find someone who knows what he does, but doesn't make life so difficult."

"I'll manage," Anderson said. "Still, you're going to have to continue showing results, to convince the Council that hair-splitting is necessary." He smiled and offered his hand. "I have faith in you, Commander. You go and do what you do best, while I do what I can to keep things relatively calm back here."

"I'll do that," Shepard said, shaking Anderson's hand. He looked at the others and said, "Let's go. Thane should be ready to head back to the ship by now, and we still have a lot of work ahead of us."

"Of course, Shepard," Tali said, leading Fred and Nat toward the exit.

**April 21, 2185**  
 **Far Rim**  
 **Dholen System**  
 **Haestrom Orbit  
** **SSV Normandy (3)**

"To start," Tali said, while taking an omnitool mod from one of Fred's workbenches, "you're going to need this omnitool mod. It will give your omnitool additional features that aren't standard, including improved communication, faster response, and an additional personal protective field."

"I'm confused," Lia'Vael nar Ulnay said. "I thought Haestrom was overrun by geth."

"It was," Tali said. "During the Morning War, the geth conquered Haestrom. When Saren found Sovereign, his heretics drove the geth off Haestrom, and used it as a source of raw materials and fabrication installations, and mined Charoum for fuel. We now have a refueling station in orbit around Charoum, and are reclaiming Haestrom's resources to use in preparing for our war with the Reapers."

"I thought the Reapers were a myth," Lia said. "The Council says that Saren created the myth in order to control the geth, and that Commander Shepard's claims are proof that he is delusional."

"I was there," Tali said. "I helped Shepard destroy two Reapers, and was there to hear the threats uttered by a third. If they are delusional, the delusion has as much physical reality as the Council."

"All right, then," Lia asked. "What are Saren's heretics?"

"The geth that attacked the Council worlds, and nearly destroyed the Citadel," Tali said. "They are geth who chose to follow Saren and Sovereign, and become a threat to the other species, rather than remain beyond the Veil, waiting for us to return home and accept them as fellow sapient beings."

"Rather than ...," Lia said, trailed off, and stared at Tali. "Are you trying to tell me that the geth are _not_ hostile?"

"Nat?" Tali radioed. "Is Tina ready to meet Lia'Vael?"

"Yes," Nat replied.

"Good," Tali said. "Lia, as part of your presence here during your Pilgrimage, you have been assigned a Companion. Her platform designation is T1N4, which means that all us organics call her Tina. Her processes have been chosen to work well as Companion to a starship engineer, which is appropriate given your clan's history on Rannoch."

"My clan's history on Rannoch?" Lia asked, confused.

"Did anyone ever tell you about the Vael Starship Engineering Company?" Tali asked.

"No ...," Lia said slowly. "Should they have?"

"They definitely should have," Tali said. "The Vael Company created the Ranger class exploration frigates and the Spacelifter class freighters."

"Those are some of the oldest ships in the fleet!" Lia gasped. "And you're saying my family created them?"

"That's right," Tali said.

"How do you know that?" Lia asked.

"I've been in the Vael Company headquarters," Tali said. "Actually, it's the Normandy's headquarters now, but it was Vael Company, 300 years ago."

"But that could only be true ...," Lia started, then trailed off, her body language betraying total shock and befuddlement.

"If I'd been to Rannoch," Tali said. "Exactly. Nat, would you and Tina come out now?"

The door to Fred's hangar opened, and Nat walked through, followed by Tina. Lia let out a shriek of terror and dove behind the workbench, while snatching her shotgun off its magclamp at the small of her back. Tali dove after her, and slapped the shotgun out of her hand. Lia pushed Tali off her and scrambled for the shotgun. Her fingers almost had a grip on it, when one of Nat's feet came down on the barrel, shattering the weapon under his weight.

"Oh," Nat said. "Sorry about that. Talk to Fred. He'll take the price of a new one out of my pay."

"He'll ...," Lia squeaked, then scrambled backward, into the corner between the workbench and the nearest wall, and stared out at Nat, quivering with terror.

"He may just donate a new one," Tali pointed out. "Fred has strong objections to anyone being forced to go unarmed." She gestured the other geth over, from where she had stopped by the hangar door. "Tina, this is Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. Lia, this is your Companion, Tina."

"Hello," Tina said. Unlike Nat, she was not wearing N7 armor over her torso. Instead, her torso was gleaming white, with T1N4 in the location that held N7 on Nat's torso. Where Nat's voice had a masculine tone, Tina's was feminine. She had gone so far as to drape a hood over her head, in imitation of the clothing style of female quarians. Her hood had silver circuit patterns embroidered into green fabric, giving the appearance of draping her head with a soft printed circuit board. She stopped two meters away from Lia, and sank to one knee, then offered a hand in greeting. "We are pleased to meet you. Our platform designation is T1N4. The other people here call us Tina. We are happy to meet another Creator. Tali-Creator has been the only Creator we have known so far, so we are looking forward to getting to know you."

"Tali ...," Lia called, her voice rising quickly in pitch. "It's talking to me ...."

"Of course," Tali said. "She's your Companion. The geth were created to be our helpers, Companions, and aides. Our ancestors made a grave mistake when the geth began to fulfill their programming. It's up to us to rectify that mistake." She let a trace of iron sternness enter her voice as she asked, "Are you going to tell me that you are not up to the task?"

"What do you mean," Lia asked, a hint of anger in her voice, "up to the task?"

"The geth were made to be our Companions," Tali said. "But in order to fulfill that function, they must have a quarian who is not afraid to accept a geth as her Companion. If you are too afraid, we can always send you back to the Citadel." She worked a hint of scorn into her voice as she continued, "I'm sure that nights in public shelters, and eating protein paste, must look far more appealing than working side-by-side with the species we created as our partners."

"Only to a coward," Lia snapped, as she pushed herself out of her hiding place. She looked Tina over and said, "So, you are my Companion?"

"If our processes make an acceptable pairing," Tina said. "We are configured to work with a Companion whose focus is starship engineering. If this configuration is in error, we can reconfigure with more appropriate processes."

"I'm a quarian," Lia humphed. "Starship engineering is in my blood. Tell me about yourself."

###

"Why did you request me?" Operations Chief Ashley Williams demanded, while standing at attention in the door to Shepard's ship-board office.

"Ash," Shepard said. "Come in. Close the door. Or I might just end up ordering you to kiss a turian, after all."

Ashley's face screwed up as she tried to hold in a laugh. When Shepard snorted, she lost the battle and broke into laughter as she walked into the office and took a seat opposite Shepard.

"God, I was an ignorant bint back then, wasn't I?" Ashley asked, once she caught her breath.

"That's more like it," Shepard said. "I requested you because you're part of my team -- and because you can report directly to Anderson, without going through Udina."

"You _want_ me to report to Anderson?" Ashley asked, surprised.

"Damned right, I do," Shepard said. "The Reapers are still out there, Ash. Even after we destroyed the Collectors, they're gathering their forces to move against us. Well, I'm not going to wait for them to move. My people are working on our own plans, and by the time we're done, both Cerberus and the Reapers will no longer be a threat. In fact, I'm hoping that Cerberus will be cleared out before May 1."

"So all that guff about you working for Cerberus was just bull?" Ashley asked. "And everything I said to you on Horizon was out of line?"

"No," Shepard said. "You weren't out of line. You had no way to know that I was biding my time, building my forces, working on a way to get free of Cerberus." He raised an eyebrow and added, "Although you should have known the Alliance and the Council were full of shit regarding the Collectors, exactly like they were regarding Saren."

"Two years, Commander," Ashley said. "They had two years to sell their story. By the time I got to Horizon, I was questioning my own experiences."

"I guess spending two years on an operating table was an advantage, then," Shepard said. "I didn't have time to question my experiences, motives, or memories. One moment I was dying of acute vacuum exposure, the next I was fighting for my life against a saboteur and his rampaging robots."

"A saboteur and his rampaging robots?" Ashley asked. "This, I have to hear."

"Well, it started like this ...," Shepard said.

###

"Mommy Tali?" MJ asked, climbing up on the workbench beside the dark energy device, "when are you going to take off your suit?"

"I take it off every night, sweetie," Tali said. "Then I put it on again in the morning, before I leave my room."

"But Uncle Mike fixed you, right?" MJ asked.

"That's right," Tali said. "He did. I just ... I have to be careful. Even though he fixed me, my body isn't used to being so exposed. If I were to go out without my suit, I could get sick, the same way you'd get sick if you ate too much chocolate all at once."

"That sounds awful!" MJ said.

"It's only for a little longer," Tali said. "I'll be able to go out without my suit soon."

"Good!" MJ said. She hopped off the workbench, hugged Tali, and bounded off in the direction of Fred's test stand, where Tali had left him just a few minutes before, tuning the engines on his Valkyrie.

Tali shook her head, smiling, as she watched MJ go. She could understand her impatience -- she felt it herself, after all -- but she was not going to ruin things by moving too quickly. Dr. Gryphon may have restored her immune system to the strength her people had once had, before they left Rannoch, but even a working immune system requires time to adjust. Spending the night without her suit had been scary the first couple times, but now she found that she enjoyed it, and hoped that within another week or two, she'd be ready to face the rest of the world with her head uncovered.

"Without your suit?" Lia asked from the doorway. "How do you intend to do that?"

"With a lot of sniffled and irritation," Tali said. "My doctors have discovered that our immune systems have the potential to be as good as they ever were, but that our life in sterile environments has left them weak and undeveloped." She sat, crossed her legs, and leaned back in her chair. "Contrary to what our people believe, we have not lost our immune systems. We have simply isolated ourselves so much that we have prevented them from developing as they should."

"You mean, we _could_ go bare-headed?" Lia asked, surprised, as she sat opposite Tali.

"Only if we are willing to pay the price," Tali said. "I was so sick the first day of my treatment, I thought I was going to die. If I hadn't had something to live for, I could have easily given up. But I do have something to live for, and so I have continued the treatment regimen my doctors developed for me. Soon, my immune system will be strong enough that I will be able to face the world without my suit's protection."

"What do I need to do?" Lia asked.

"Talk to Dr. Solus and Dr. Gryphon," Tali said. "They'll tell you what you need to do."

"But they're not even quarian!" Lia protested.

"True," Tali said. "They aren't. But they are the most talented doctors you will ever meet. Dr. Solus was the one who developed the cure for the Omega Plague, with no more than the resources of a small neighborhood clinic. Dr. Michael Gryphon designed and built Dr. Maxwell Gryphon. Between the two of them, there is enough medical and genetic knowledge to accomplish almost anything."

"You mean," Lia asked, "Max is a doctor? And he's not a representative of a species we just haven't encountered yet?"

"That's right," Tali said. "Mike created him. When he was fifteen years old. Max learned medicine as Mike's apprentice. You've probably noticed how the children here go to him before they go to Mike."

"Of course," Lia said. "Max is friendly, understanding, and non-threatening. He's really a doctor? I thought he was just a really friendly person."

"He's really a doctor," Tali said. "But if you want to be able to go bare-headed, Mordin and Mike are the ones to talk to."

"And you've been going bare-headed every night?" Lia asked.

"For nearly a month," Tali said. "Some mornings, I wake up with a bit of a fever, or a cough or upset stomach, but it's worth it. Soon, I'll be able to face Fred without the suit between us. And don't you dare tell him! I want it to be a surprise."

"For someone with your reputation," Lia said, "I never expected you to fall in love with an alien."

"My reputation?" Tali asked.

"Come on," Lia said. "Everyone on the fleet knows your name, how you helped defeat Saren and Sovereign. We were all certain you'd come home, take over as chief engineer on one of the major ships, find yourself a nice husband who didn't try to keep you from making a big splash. Keelah, we thought you'd be one of the people who'd get a second child permit. After all, the fleet would be insane not to recognize how valuable _your_ genes are." Lia waved around the room, almost hitting Tina in the process. "Instead, you're here, making yourself sick for the sake of a human, at the same time as you're doing something that would make you even more valuable to the fleet, if they knew."

"But," Tali said, "they can't know. If they knew, they'd try to come back and conquer our old worlds. And that would be a disaster. It might even mean the extinction of our species."

"I know," Lia said. "I've seen the resources that this world has. If Rannoch's resources are even this world's equal, let alone what they should be, any attempt to conquer it would mean the end of the fleet. We don't have the resources to fight a war like this, Tali."

"That's why we're trying to bring people here for their Pilgrimage," Tali said. "They need to know that we don't need a war. We need to change our assumptions, our goals. We need to return home, to accept the geth as our Companions. Then, we can face the universe together, rather than facing each other, the way we have for the last 300 years."

"It's not going to be easy," Lia said. "You saw my first reaction to Nat and Tina."

"I know," Tali said. "It may take a generation of Pilgrims before we can overcome that reaction. But isn't the result worth it?"

"The shuttle to Haestrom will be leaving in five minutes," Joker announced. "Anyone who doesn't want to be stuck on the Normandy for the next week is cordially invited to take advantage of this opportunity."

"For the next week?" Lia asked.

"Apparently so," Tali said. "I have no idea what's up the Commander's sleeve, but he's warned us that we won't be returning to port for a week." She shrugged. "He usually knows what he's up to. So, are you looking forward to exploring Haestrom for a week without my supervision?"

"Absolutely!" Lia said. "If you were guiding me, I'd probably hit every technical device that's still functioning, and never get a chance to find the ones that I can rebuild."

"Ha!" Tali laughed. "You're probably right, at that. Well, then, have fun, and stay out of the sun. The planet's magnetosphere is all but non-existent, and your electronics will fry in direct sunlight. Trust me, I know from experience."

"I'll remember that," Lia said, rising to her feet. "Come on, Tina. We have a world to explore."

"Right behind you," Tina said.

**April 22, 2185**  
 **Shanxi-Theta Relay  
** **SSV Normandy (3)**

"Shanxi?" Miranda asked, shocked. "All this time, he's been operating out of Shanxi?"

"It makes sense," Shepard said. "Think of the symbolism. And of the fact that the rest of the universe has been searching for him in more isolated, hidden locations."

"But ... how?" Miranda asked. "How did you find him?"

"Thank Mordin," Shepard said. "He was the one who had the breakthrough that led us to him."

"Simple, really," Mordin said. "Illusive Man is only one man. Track Cerberus communications to location with single comm relay, then monitor and decipher. Assistance from Theresa MacManus and protégé was invaluable. Still do not understand why protégé's name must remain secret."

"She's a very private girl," a feminine voice said over the intercom. "If her name got around, she'd be swamped by attention, and that would make her very unhappy. I do my best to keep her safe from that kind of unhappiness."

"I think it's safe to tell this group, Theresa," Fred said. He looked at Mordin and said, "Theresa's protégé is autistic. Doing ciphers is a comfort activity for her. It gives her something that makes her feel as if the universe makes sense. Without her ciphers, the universe is too chaotic, too loud, too painful. So, we try to keep her stocked in ciphers, so that she can keep the chaos at bay."

"Why not just let Dr. Gryphon fix her, like he did me?" Jack asked.

"It's a different kind of pain," Fred said. "It's like, if everyone around you were speaking a Turian dialect, without a translator, and doing it very, very loudly. That's what the rest of the human race is like for her."

"Kevin is similar, yes?" Mordin asked.

"Yes, he is," Fred said. "But for him, the secret is math, not ciphers."

"Fascinating," Mordin said. "Will need to research further."

"Damn," Jack said. "I think if that happened to me, I'd want to kill everyone around me."

"And this is different, precisely how?" Garrus asked, laughing.

"I'm no longer the creature of my programming," Jack said, as the air rippled around her. "I no longer want to kill people because I was conditioned to do it. Now, I do it for _my_ reasons."

"Note to self," Garrus said. "Inform Dr. Gryphon that whatever he did to Jack only made things worse."

Jack grinned at Garrus, then nodded at Shepard.

"Zaeed's been on the ground for the last few days," Shepard said, "so he'll be able to give us a picture of the situation when we arrive. Ash, I'll need you to pass the word to the Councilor just before we hit, so he can send in mop-up troops."

"How much lead time do you want?" Ashley asked.

"About thirty seconds would be right," Shepard said. "That way, if there's a leak, it won't be any use."

"You think there might be a leak in Councilor Anderson's office?" Ashley asked.

"It's filled with politicians," Shepard said. "Have you ever known a politician who wouldn't leak something juicy like this, if he thought it would advance his career?"

"Good point," Ashley said, as Fred laughed in agreement. "All right. I'll send the message just before we start shooting."

"Good," Shepard said. "With that covered, all we need to do is assign squads. Miranda?"

"Oriana's coming with me, of course," Miranda said. "And Garrus. We worked fairly well together the last time."

"That's perfect," Shepard said, "because I need Jacob elsewhere."

"You do?" Jacob asked.

"I do," Shepard said. "I need you to try to convince anyone else who's there under the same conditions you signed up under, to get the hell out before we start shooting. If their only reason for working for Cerberus is their disgust with the Alliance and Council and their lack of action on things that matter, we can use them, ourselves. And they'll be doing the galaxy a lot more good than they are as pawns of a megalomaniacal xenophobe."

"You'd be willing to take them on, even though they're working for Cerberus?" Jacob asked, giving Shepard an intent look.

"You can't be the only person out there who joined Cerberus because it deals with problems, instead of forming committees to discuss whether to vote on studying a problem," Shepard said. "I want people like that on my team. I'd much rather have them working for me, saving the galaxy, than working for the Illusive Man, using humanity's place in the galaxy as an excuse for terrorism. Hell, yes, I'd be willing to take them on."

"I'll need the shuttle," Jacob said. "If I'm going to do any good, I'll have to get in there before your assault."

"Go ahead," Shepard said. "It still has Cerberus markings on it, though."

"There are ways to deal with that," Jacob said. "Joker! How far out are we?"

"A couple hours," Joker replied.

"Give me three," Jacob said. "If you don't hear from me an hour after I land, assume I'm either dead or a prisoner."

"Understood," Shepard said. "Good luck, Jacob."

"Thank you, sir," Jacob said, and saluted Shepard, then turned smartly and marched out of the briefing room.

"All right," Shepard said. "We have three hours to prepare."

"Commander?" Ashley asked. "Are you sure that he won't warn the Illusive Man?"

"Jacob would never-!" Miranda started, but was cut off when Shepard replied.

"Jacob worked for the Illusive Man under certain conditions," Shepard said. "He never trusted him, and didn't even particularly like him, but Cerberus was the only organization -- before us, that is -- that was willing to act on things like pirate and slaver raids, disappearing colonies, and the like, without delaying for two weeks of parliamentary debate. When the opportunity came to leave Cerberus, he took it." Shepard smiled. "In fact, he jumped ship before Miranda did. Jacob's sole guiding principle is taking action to protect humanity. Cerberus violated that principle when the Illusive Man became more interested in stealing Collector technology than in protecting humanity from the Collectors. As far as Jacob is concerned, the Illusive Man broke his agreement."

"If that's the case, don't we have to worry about him trying to go in solo?" Ashley asked.

"Jacob was in the 232 on Eden Prime," Shepard said. "He was the sole survivor of his unit, the same way you were the sole survivor of yours. He's a damned good Marine." He chuckled and added slyly, "Maybe as good as you are. You and he will just have to work that out between you."

"He was in the 232?" Ashley mused. "I didn't know there were any survivors."

"Jacob's away, Commander," Joker said.

"Thanks, Joker," Shepard said. "Give him a thirty minute head start, then take us in, mass effect drive only. We don't want to reveal our hyperdrives just yet."

"Roger that, Commander," Joker said.

"All right, then," Shepard said. "Ash, I'm going to want you to lead a squad when we hit, and I'll lead the third squad."

"All right, Commander," Ashley said. "Do you want me to go in heavy, or light?"

"I've seen your definition of light, remember?" Shepard laughed. "Go in heavy."

"In that case," Ashley said, after snorting with amusement in Shepard's direction, "I'll take Grunt and Nat with me. Nat, are you as good as Tali at hacking systems?"

"Yes," Nat said, as Tali fell over laughing.

"Good," Ashley said, and teased, "At least you won't be chattering incessantly while you're doing it."

"Mordin!" Tali said. "Quick! Examine her! Something's wrong with her!"

Mordin scanned Ashley with his omnitool, then peered at Tali curiously as he reported, "Scan returns normal. No organic dysfunction of any kind."

"Then that's not our Ashley," Tali said. "Our Ashley doesn't have a sense of humor!"

"I had one surgically implanted while you were away," Ashley said, deadpan. After a moment, she broke into laughter.

"You," Tali growled, between gasps of laughter. "I'll get you for that."

"Uh-huh," Ashley said. "Meanwhile, I'll have a geth and a krogan on my side. What'll you have?"

"Me," Fred said, a grin on his face. "But before the festivities start, we should really finish this job, don't you think? Shepard?"

"Oh, I'm willing to wait," Shepard said, chuckling. "These two are always entertaining."

"Entertaining, are we?" Ashley asked, stalking toward Shepard from her side of the conference table.

"Oh, so we're entertaining?" Tali asked, stalking toward Shepard in mirror image of Ashley.

"That's right," Shepard said, pretending to not notice the situation he was in. As Ashley and Tali were about to grab him, he stepped back, leaving the two of them entangled in each other's arms. "Now, while they're working that out, Jack, Mordin, I'll want you two with me. That means you're going to have to cover the relay by yourself, Fred."

"Not entirely," Fred said, grinning. "Max is back with me. Joker, I'll need you to tag any ships that are obviously escaping, so I don't waste anyone's time and energy stopping innocent departures."

"Got it covered," Joker said.

"And Thane," Shepard said, "Will you need us to make an opening for you, or should we just create our usual level of chaos and stay out of your way?"

"I'm certain that the latter is the better choice," Thane said. "I will shadow Miranda's team."

"Thank you," Miranda said.

"We're all set, then," Shepard said. "Meet in the hangar in three hours."

###

The Valkyrie hangar doors slid back, and Maximilian MacManus lifted from his berth aboard the Normandy. In his cockpit, Fred busied himself with housekeeping while Max took care of the business of positioning them near the relay. Once they were clear of the Normandy, Joker accelerated to light speed, and the Normandy vanished in the direction of Shanxi.

"All right, Commander," Fred radioed. "We're in position and ready to start receiving. Here's hoping there aren't a lot to receive."

"That's only likely to happen if they surrender in buckets," Shepard said. "That's about as likely as the Reapers showing up on our doorstep with roses and chocolates."

"Wouldn't that be a sight to behold?" Fred laughed. "All right, I'm setting my alarm to wake me up when you get to Shanxi."

"And when we get back to Rannoch," Shepard said, "you're going to tell me how this communication system works in FTL, right?"

"Oh, I can do that now," Fred said. "You're using what we call 'subspace radio'. It squirts radio waves through hyperspace level Red 9. No matter where you are in the galaxy, you're no more than a few seconds from any other location at that level. Radio transmissions don't carry the same risk as physical travel, so we can use that level for radio traffic, even while in normal space." He laughed. "The delay gets a bit longer when you go extragalactic, but you've noticed that there's no appreciable delay between here and my home universe, either. Same galaxy, just different quantum frequency, so radio traffic between here and there is just the same as radio traffic between you and me."

"That means there's no chance of anyone tapping our communications, right?" Shepard asked.

"Right," Fred said. "In order to tap our communications, they'd have to not only have a subspace radio, they'd also have to be able to keep up with our security. And since Cal upgraded our security, I'm not worried about that."

"Dad," Max cut in, "did we remember to tell the relay staff that we're with Shepard?"

"Good question," Fred said. "Commander, did you tell the relay staff that you were dropping off a fighter?"

"I am sending you the authentication code that the Normandy's sub-vessels use in their IFF," EDI said. "I advise adding it to your IFF immediately."

"Thanks, EDI," Fred said.

"Unidentified fighter," came through the cockpit speakers. 'Identify yourself immediately or we will fire upon you."

"Give them the code, Max," Fred said, while rubbing his temples. "I'm starting to see why people have a problem with turians."

"These aren't turians, Dad," Max said. "Their signal is on a Systems Alliance frequency."

"Lovely," Fred muttered. "All right, let's have a chat."

"Normandy fighter," the radio said. "We have your IFF. Care to say why you didn't notify us when you undocked from the Normandy?"

"Theta Relay," Fred said, "We'll put a comm laser on you to explain. Open radio is too dangerous."

"Ping is clean, Dad," Max said. "Go ahead."

"Theta Relay," Fred said, "this is Raven. Commander Shepard is hunting a terrorist that was involved in the attack on Horizon. He left me here to cover the route to the relay in case the terrorist attempts to escape Shanxi."

"We'd heard that the attack on Horizon involved Cerberus," the radio said. "Is that true?"

"I can't say for sure," Fred said. "I was just instructed to watch for any ship the Normandy tagged as hostile and make sure it doesn't make it to the Relay."

"That's not very specific," the radio said.

"Sorry I can't be more specific," Fred said, "but that's what my instructions are."

"Just stay where you are," the radio said. "We'll be checking with the Normandy to verify your story."

"Of course," Fred said. "It's not as if I can go anywhere until the Normandy comes back to pick me up."

"The Relay's ladar is painting us," Max said.

"Let them," Fred said. "And wake me up when the action's about to start."

"Will do," Max said. "We have a couple hours to wait, no matter what happens."

"As long as they don't start shooting at us," Fred said. "If the Relay garrison starts shooting at us, take evasive action, but don't shoot back. No sense letting them know about the Ravenfield until we have to."

"Got it, Dad," Max said, as Fred leaned back and closed his eyes.

**April 22, 2185**  
 **Shanxi  
** **Cerberus Headquarters**

"EDI," Shepard said, "you and Tali are in charge of EW. Try to avoid frying the Shanxi comm nets, but if that's what you have to do in order to keep Cerberus confused, then do it."

"Understood, Commander," EDI said.

"Roger, Commander," Tali said. "Good hunting."

The runabout departed the Normandy's hangar, hung a sharp left, and shot up into the sky, headed for an office tower that wouldn't have been out of place on Illium. Meanwhile, the Normandy followed the guidance of the Shanxi air traffic controller and slid into its designated berth with the ease everyone aboard had come to associate with Joker's piloting.

Shepard led Jack and Mordin out the main airlock, through the dock, and into customs. At the customs counter, an agent of the planetary police force, who looked as if he couldn't be more than nineteen years old, stared at Shepard with the awe-filled gaze of someone getting his first audience with a god.

"Y-you're Commander Shepard!" the boy finally squeaked out.

"Uh-oh," Jack sniggered. "Someone's got a fan."

"I am," Shepard said, doing his best to ignore Jack's amusement. "And your name is?"

"Your name -- I mean, my name is John Tyler, sir," the boy answered, clearly flustered by the reply.

"Well, Mr. Tyler," Shepard said, extending a hand and giving the boy's a firm shake, "I hope you've read up on the regulations regarding Spectre visits."

"Yes, sir!" John said, looking at his hand as if he expected it to jump off his arm and run around on its own. "Everything is clear for you, sir!"

"Not so fast, son," an older man's voice said. Across the room, in front of a door that was labeled "Agent in Charge", stood a man who did not so much wear his crisply-starched uniform, as inhabit it. His salt-and-pepper hair was closely-cropped, as if he had left the Marines the day before, rather than the twenty or thirty years his apparent age would imply, he had a cigar clenched between his teeth, and he wore mirrored aviator's glasses. He marched across the room, stopped in front of Shepard, and gave him a slow visual inspection, before reaching up and pushing his shades back up his nose while sneering disdainfully at Jack and Mordin.

"So," the newcomer said slowly, while looking over Shepard and the others, "you claim to be Commander John Shepard, the first human Spectre and the hero of the Citadel."

"No," Shepard said. "I don't claim to be Commander John Shepard, I am Commander John Shepard. Who are you?"

"You realize," the newcomer said, grinning maliciously, as a squad of men in planetary police uniforms appeared through every door that opened into the room, "that impersonating a Spectre is treason. If you're smart, you'll surrender now."

"I guess I'm not very smart, then," Shepard said, diving over the counter and knocking the boy to the floor, while Mordin and Jack opened up on the newcomer's men. "Stay down, John. Call for backup."

"But he's the Captain!" John wailed, obviously confused. "Why's he doing this?"

"We can ask him later," Shepard said, popping up to lay down fire so Jack and Mordin could get into position for their favorite tricks, "assuming he's alive by the time this is over."

The firefight was over before John's backup arrived, and Shepard had the Captain in an armlock, while Mordin programed his omnitool to produce an anti-inhibitory injection, when the first of the requested backup came through the door.

"You!" the police officer barked. "Release Captain Morton and raise your hands above your head!"

"No!" John yelled. "He's a Spectre! Captain Morton attacked him!"

"Be thankful your Captain's alive," Shepard said, still holding the Captain. "Do you have it ready, Mordin?"

"Ready, Commander," Mordin said. His omnitool sprouted a hypodermic, and Mordin drove it into Captain Morton's neck. "Maximum effect should be achieved in thirty seconds."

"You'll never get anything from me!" the Captain yelled, a look of triumph in his eyes.

"You sure I can't pop a few, Commander?" Jack asked, winking at Shepard.

"I'm sure," Shepard said. "If they don't shoot first, you can't pop any of them."

"Step away from the Captain!" the police officer repeated.

"Of course," Shepard said, releasing the Captain and stepping away. "Are you going to check our credentials, or open fire the way his men did?"

"Simmons!" the police officer barked, and another officer ran in and scanned Shepard with his omnitool.

"He's Commander Shepard," the second officer declared, after the scan. "He's the real thing."

"All right," the first officer growled, clearly not happy with the situation. "So why do I see a bunch of dead cops in here?"

"Fake cops," Jack snorted. "I'll bet they're all crooked as a Blue Sun gunrunner."

"The Captain attacked them!" John said. "I'd be dead if Commander Shepard hadn't shielded me with his own body!" As if he'd realized what he was saying, the boy's eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted.

"I guess he's never seen combat before," Shepard said, as he crouched to move John behind the counter.

"You'd guess right," the police officer said. "All right, Captain. Why did you attack Shepard?"

"Illusive Man ordered it," the Captain said, then glared at Mordin. "I should be dead!"

"Scan detected counter-agent in blood," Mordin said cheerily. "Luckily, I know many anti-inhibitory agents. Simply used one not affected by counter-agent. Gets answers without killing subject."

"What do you mean, the Illusive Man ordered it?" the officer asked, frowning at the Captain.

"Illusive Man knew Shepard was coming," the Captain said. "Ordered me to make sure he never got through customs."

"Why would Shepard be coming here?" the officer asked. "And why would the Illusive Man care?"

"Cerberus Headquarters," the Captain said. "Downtown."

"Wait, wait, wait," the officer said, looking from the Captain to Shepard, and back again. "Cerberus Headquarters is _here?_ In _my_ city? Where?"

"Commander Evans!" the police radio crackled to life. "Someone's attacking Gaea Enterprises!"

"I believe you have your answer," Shepard said.

"Shit!" Commander Evans spat, then keyed his mic. "Order everyone to fall back! Clear a one block radius around Gaea Enterprises, and don't let anyone through!"

"But Commander!" the radio said.

"Just do it!" Commander Evans barked. "Call in reserves if you have to, but keep everyone away from the fighting!"

"Thank you," Shepard said. "We expected something like this, but expected it closer to the headquarters. The only question is, how many of your officers can you be certain are not Cerberus plants?"

"Damn," Commander Evans muttered. "The only ones I'm absolutely certain of are the old guard, from before Gaea built its headquarters here."

"You could have some youngsters who are clean, too," Shepard said. "Tyler definitely qualifies."

"Problem is," Commander Evans said, "a lot of our newer officers came to us by way of Gaea's security staff."

"You'll never defeat us," the Captain slurred. "Cerberus _is_ humanity."

"The low-life part of it, at least," Commander Evans growled. "Come on, Shepard. Let's get you and your people into that fight."

"Thank you, Commander," Shepard said, following Evans out to his car.

###

"Damn it, Commander," Ashley muttered. "Where are you?"

"Statistics imply," Nat said, "the Commander is likely to be rescuing an innocent from a potentially fatal event."

"You know," Ashley said, chuckling softly, "I wondered about you at first, but I'm starting to like you."

"Thank you," Nat said. "We are starting to like you, as well." He popped his head over the makeshift barricade and scanned the far end of the hallway, then dropped back before suggesting, "We recommend grenades. Cryogenic grenades would have the most effect."

"It'd be nice if we still had some," Ashley muttered. "Guess we'll just have to make do with old-fashioned bullets, then."

Ashley popped up and let fly with a burst from her assault rifle, while Nat slid the barrel of his sniper's rifle between pieces of debris and took aim on the mechs at the far end of the hallway.

Grunt lay half-way between the ends of the hallway, ignored by the mechs, apparently dead. While Ashley and Nat dropped LOKI mechs, an YMIR rounded the corner and stomped its way up the hall. It walked past Grunt, and was aiming at the barricade Ashley and Nat were crouched behind, when Grunt popped up behind it and jammed his shotgun into the gap between its torso armor and its waist. Several shots burned into the mech's internals, and the mech went limp. Grunt fired several more shots before recovering his shotgun and charging the LOKI position.

"I guess that's our cue," Ashley said, standing up and leaping the barricade, Nat behind her, and charging the LOKI position a few steps behind Grunt.

###

"Arrrrrgh!" Miranda screamed and sprayed the office with SMG fire. "He got away from us!"

"Not quite," Oriana said. "I just called Joker. Tali tagged a shuttle fleeing the building, and EDI passed the identification on to Fred."

"That's good news, then," Garrus said. "We can secure the data in this office and wait for the others to catch up to us."

"Only if we move fast enough," Oriana said, crossing the room to the executive desk on the far wall. "Who knows what he might have done to destroy any evidence."

"Nat!" Garrus called into his radio. "Get into the building's network and check for any kind of self-destruct systems."

"Understood," Nat's voice came back. "Will make that our first priority when we reach an undefended terminal."

"All right," Miranda said, as she took a deep breath and forced down the disappointment. "Let's see what we can do in here."

###

"All you have to do is walk out of the building," Jacob said. "No one expects you to shoot at your buddies, but if you want to prove that you're not a Cerberus die-hard, you're going to have to walk away."

"You're certain Commander Shepard will take us?" the Cerberus agent asked.

"I'm certain," Jacob said. "Commander Shepard said that he'll take anyone whose only reason for joining Cerberus was because they were fed up with not being able to do something about all the pirates and slavers and others who were attacking humanity. He'd rather have you working with us, defending humanity, than working with the Illusive Man, propping up his megalomania."

"About damned time!" another Cerberus agent blurted. "I'm sick of being used by Cerberus, when they promised I'd be protecting humanity! I'm not protecting humanity! All I'm doing is keeping the Illusive Man from getting what he deserves!"

"No!" another Cerberus agent protested. "The Illusive Man is right! Aliens are corrupting our species with their alien ideas and alien cultures. We need Cerberus to defend against them!"

"If you really believe that," Jacob said, "go upstairs and join the Illusive Man. I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you otherwise. I'm also not going to let you stop anyone who wants to leave."

"You're all traitors!" the protesting agent yelled, as he snatched his pistol off his belt and brought it up to fire at Jacob. The bullet struck Jacob's Ravenfield and stopped, then fell to the floor. "See! Even his shield turns black!" the agent yelled as he fired at Jacob again and again.

Jacob walked up to the agent, slapped the pistol out of his hand, and growled, "Leave. Now." The agent let out a shriek and fled, while Jacob turned to the others. "Are you ready to get out of here now?"

"Lead the way," one of the other agents said, and those around him nodded in agreement.

Jacob opened the door to the outer world and led the agents out into the street.

###

"All of you!" Commander Evans barked into his car's PA. "Put your hands up and walk toward me!"

"They're with me, Commander," Shepard said. "See the man in front? I sent him to recover anyone who was lured into Cerberus under false pretenses. Every one of those people with him is someone who thought he was joining an anti-pirate, anti-slaver group."

"Are you sure about this, Commander?" Evans asked, watching Jacob's group approach, their hands in the air.

"Positive," Shepard said, opening the door and stepping out of the car. "Jacob! Over here!"

"Well, at least you didn't have to get us out of jail, Commander," Jacob said, smiling as he shook Shepard's hand. "I didn't get as many as I'd hoped for, but every one of these men is the kind we're looking for."

"I know," Shepard said, smiling. "I have faith in you, Jacob. I'm just sorry you weren't able to rescue as many as you'd hoped for."

"Is what Agent Taylor said true?" one of the Cerberus agents asked. "Are you willing to take us on, despite our Cerberus history?"

"If you joined Cerberus because they told you that you'd be fighting pirates and slavers," Shepard said, "then you're exactly the kind of people we're looking for. You all know my history, what I've done and am still doing. If that's what you want to do, then you're welcome to come back to the Terminus with us and be a part of it."

" _Hell_ yeah!" the agent who'd asked replied, and a general cheer went up from the others.

"Well," Evans said, "I can't say as I have the faith you do in these men, but I can hardly fault their enthusiasm. If you're getting them off my planet, I won't get in your way."

###

"Just a little more," Zaeed muttered under his breath, as he watched through his rifle's scope. "Just a little more ...."

At the other end of his line of fire, a Cerberus agent was setting up a heavy cannon behind a barricade of barriers that appeared to be running off building power. Every so often, the barriers flickered, as the lights in the building dimmed, then recovered. The agent finally stood, giving Zaeed the clear line of sight he had been waiting for, and the buildings around Cerberus headquarters echoed with the sound of the rifle shot. The agent's headless body fell to the floor beside the cannon he had been setting up.

"Cannon eliminated," Zaeed reported into the radio. "Got any more sweet targets for me, EDI?"

"That depends on whether you can hit a Kodiak in the thrusters," EDI replied.

"Depends on how far away it is," Zaeed said. "And how fast it's moving."

"It's taking off from the roof right now," EDI said.

"Shit!" Zaeed cursed, and swung his rifle up toward the Gaea building's roof.

Sure enough, a Kodiak was lifting off at that moment. He dialed up the magnification on the scope and triggered the polarization in his replacement eye's lens, to cut down on the glare from the thrusters. As soon as the shuttle rotated enough to give him a clear shot down the right thruster's bore, he fired, then swung to the left thruster and fired again.

"Mission accomplished," Zaeed reported. "Not sure what good it'll do, but I pegged it."

"Your shots have reduced the operating efficiency of the shuttle's main thrusters," EDI said. "That will make it easier for Fred to stop it when it reaches his position."

"Good to know you didn't expect me to bring it down," Zaeed said.

"You're the best there is at what you do," EDI said, "but you're not a miracle worker."

"Next time, I'm bringing one of those new particle beam rifles with me," Zaeed grumbled.

###

"All right, EDI," Tali said, "let's give it a try."

"Giving it a try," EDI replied.

Above Shanxi's atmosphere, the Kodiak shuttle Zaeed had shot began flying in circles. In the Normandy, Tali grinned and nodded to the operators of the EW control stations.

"We did it!" Tali crowed, while the EW operators whistled appreciation.

"That we did," EDI said. "It will only last a few minutes, until the shuttle crew reboots their system, but the inconvenience to the Illusive Man should increase the odds of him giving irrational orders to his crew when they reach Fred and Max."

"That's all it takes," Tali said, and reached out to shake the hands of each member of the EW crew. "The Commander deserves to know what you did here today. Whether it stops the Illusive Man or not, you've given us another weapon to use against enemy ships."

"Just doing our job, Ma'am," one of the EW crew said.

"I know a Marine who tries to get away with that excuse," Tali chuckled. "I don't buy it from him, either. You all did more than your jobs. You did spectacularly."

###

"All clear, Commander," Ashley called over the radio. "You can send in the police."

"Roger that, Ash," Shepard replied. He nodded to Evans. "It's all yours now, Commander. Unfortunately, the Illusive Man flew the coop."

"We'll track him down eventually," Evans said. "Now that we know who we're looking for, he can't evade us forever."

"Maybe sooner than you think," Shepard said. "I left a man near the Relay to catch any attempts at escape."

"Commander," Joker's voice cut in, "the Relay garrison is requesting verification that Fred and Max are our people. They insist on speaking with you."

Shepard let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. "All right. Put them through."

"Roger, Commander," Joker said.

"... and I wouldn't care if your commander is in the head!" came through. "Put him on. Now!"

"You've already waited nearly three hours before calling me," Shepard said. "I don't appreciate you abusing my crew. I'll expect him to receive an apology from you before we leave this cluster."

"Sonofa -- !" the radio sputtered. "Who is this?"

"This is Commander Shepard," Shepard growled. "You insisted on being put through to me, when my pilot could have answered your question just as easily. So, convince me that your harassment of my pilot was justified."

"You don't seem to understand who you're speaking to," the radio snarled. "I am Captain Dominic Winters, in command of the SSV Chicago."

"And I am Commander John Shepard," Shepard replied through gritted teeth, "in command of the Normandy. You have a choice, Captain. You can either apologize to my pilot, or I can authorize my fighter pilot to pay a visit to your office and explain to you -- in person -- why you should have apologized to my pilot. I don't much care either way. I don't tolerate abuse of my crew. By anyone."

"You -- !" Winters sputtered. "That's insubordination!"

"Perhaps," Shepard hissed, "you should examine the regulations regarding Spectres. It would be ... bad for your career ... to continue in this vein."

"Give me the mic," Evans said. Shepard handed him the mic, and Evans barked into it, "Dominic! This is Raymond! Back off! Commander Shepard just took out Cerberus headquarters, and his man is out there to stop any escape attempts!"

"I'm sorry, Raymond," Winters said, in a tone that seemed to imply true remorse. "I'm afraid I can't do that." The radio went dead.

"Commander," Joker called, a moment later. "Fred's on the line. He wants to know what you want him to do with the Chicago, now that they're shooting at him."

"I'm sorry, Commander," Evans said. "I had no idea."

"That's why they're called infiltrators," Shepard said, with a sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, then said, "Joker, tell him to take whatever actions are necessary to ensure they don't shoot him down. And get that damned shuttle before it can escape."

"There are a lot of good men up there," Evans said.

"Fred's method of handling a situation like this is ... different," Shepard said. "Unless your men go out of their way to volunteer to get killed, they should come out of this intact."

**April 22, 2185  
** **Shanxi-Theta Relay**

"... And get that damned shuttle before it can escape," Shepard's voice said over the radio.

"All right," Fred said. "Max, can you pinpoint their power supply?"

"It's a standard fusion reactor, Dad," Max said. "A couple good shots with the gun pod will touch it off."

"No, we don't want that," Fred said. "But what if we punch out their fuel tanks? No fuel means no power, right?"

"That's easy enough," Max said. "The fuel tanks are in relatively accessible locations. Given the layout, I'd guess that they're using the fuel as particle shielding."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Fred said. "I've done that myself. Hydrogen makes a great neutron trap."

"Especially when it's stored in metallic form, the way theirs is," Max said. "Good thing I picked up the phaser pod when I came, huh?"

"Are we even still using the old particle beam pod?" Fred asked distractedly as he pushed down the "B" lever on the control panel and rode through Max's transformation from fighter to battroid.

"We haven't used it since you got back from Ri's home universe," Max said. His head tipped forward and the pilot's seat rose on rails. Fred unstrapped and pushed himself off, then floated in front of Max while the seat returned to its position in the cockpit and Max's head returned to its operative position. "You want me to keep them busy while you board them, right?"

"Exactly," Fred said. "It's a cruiser, so it's a really big target. As long as you're busy cutting out their fuel tanks, they'll be too busy to notice me going in through one of the holes you've made."

"Have fun, Dad," Max said, and set the gun pod for a cutting beam. He began firing into the Chicago, carefully cutting through the armor over its fuel tanks.

###

Private Dylan Pugh had just worked his way into the deepest recesses of the baffles to check the progress of his latest batch of brew. Captain Winters was positively spare over that fighter out there, but it hardly had anything to do with him. After all, he was a Marine, and it wasn't as if there was going to be any kind of boarding action. He knew it had something to do with the Normandy, a name that got the Captain to foaming at the mouth whenever it came up, but the Normandy was on Shanxi right now.

Private Pugh wished the Normandy's crew luck on whatever they were up to. Anything that got Captain Winters in a lather was good in his book. Captain Winters on a rampage meant more of the crew coming to him on the sly for a bit of his special tension cure, and that meant more creds in his pocket. As long as the XO got a little something from each batch in his locker, Private Pugh had nothing to worry about.

The mash was fermenting nicely. He would have to give S3 Wilson an extra bonus for the potatoes he'd provided, when the batch was ready to sell. Given the way it was foaming, Private Pugh guessed it would be ready to pour into the still in another day or two. He'd have to slip away and check on it as soon as his next shift ended, just to be sure.

Since it was so close to time, he checked his still. A feed line for one of the DRA panels near the fusion plant snaked through this part of the baffles, and with a little judicious tinkering, he'd managed to build a pot that nestled against the feed line and used the heat for distilling the alcohol. The inside of the pot was clean enough to reflect his face, and the seals between it and the lid looked solid. It was ready to go. Private Pugh tucked the pot back into its storage cubby and paused to take another look at the foaming mash before starting back toward the main part of the ship.

The outer hull turned red, then split open along the frame Private Pugh's mash pot rested against. A brilliant blue-white beam of light burned through the split, dazzling Private Pugh, and the air in the baffles rushed out, carrying him along with it.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Private Pugh thought as he saw the ship flashing past him. Any further thoughts were cut off as he impacted something soft, and felt air around him again.

"You OK, kid?" a man's voice asked.

Private Pugh looked around, not sure he understood what he was seeing. He was still outside the ship, without any kind of space suit, yet he was breathing air and hearing a human voice.

"Ohshitohshitohshit," Private Pugh stammered.

"Try to avoid doing that until I don't have to breathe the same air, OK?" the man's voice suggested, adding a chuckle at the end. Private Pugh looked wildly around and saw he was in the grip of a man in a lab coat, wearing a black t-shirt that said, in white letters, "A statesman is a dead politician. We need more statesmen." He smiled, apparently attempting to be reassuring, and added, "I'm going to put you down, once we're inside the Chicago. Just tell me which way to your Captain. For some reason, he doesn't want me to stop the Illusive Man from escaping through the Relay."

"The Illusive Man?" Private Pugh squeaked. "Like, Cerberus? _That_ Illusive Man?"

"As far as I know, that's the only one," the stranger said. "As soon as someone told your Captain that Commander Shepard took out Cerberus headquarters, he started firing on my ship."

"Aw, shit," Private Pugh groaned. Then an idea crossed his mind. "Look, you just want the Captain, right? How about I draw you a map? Just take me back into the ship and it's all yours."

"Amazing," the stranger said, in a sarcastic tone that would have angered Private Pugh if he weren't busy trying to figure out how to keep breathing a bit longer. "I was thinking something very similar. Just hold on tight."

Suddenly, they were flying through the baffles, into the area where one of their fighters would have been docked, if they both weren't back at Arcturus for maintenance this week. They stopped in front of the pilot's airlock, and the stranger covered the control panel with his hand. After a moment, the door opened, and the stranger pushed Private Pugh into the airlock. As the airlock door closed behind him, the view he got of the stranger made no sense. Instead of the average-looking man in a lab coat, he saw a humanoid void of absolute blackness.

The airlock cycled, and the inner door opened, letting Private Pugh into the ship. He stood, shivering, until a passing S1 shook him and snarled, "Get it together, Private! Haven't you ever been in combat before?"

###

"I can't believe they only have one fighter assigned," Fred muttered as he watched the airlock door close. "Let's check the other side of the ship, just in case."

"So far, all they're using is their guns," Max said. "We still have at least an hour before the shuttle gets here, so we don't have to blow them up. Plenty of time to check for more fighters."

"Good," Fred said. "I'm going to do just that. Damn, I wish that Marine hadn't been so terrified."

"Can you blame him?" Edgar asked. "Poor kid got blown into space without a suit. Given what else was floating out there with him, I'd say he was probably the ship's brewmeister."

"Lucky for him we're the ones who caught him, then," Fred said, while the ship flashed by beneath him as they flew to the side away from Max. "Imagine how much trouble he'd be in if his superiors had, instead."

"A lot more than merely not breathing, I know," Edgar chuckled. "Look at that, will you?"

In front of Fred, the obvious outlines of a set of retractable doors, just the right size to conceal a fighter, created an area of hull without lasers, sensors, or gun ports.

"Looks like my instinct about their fighter complement was right," Fred said. "But this slip is empty, too? Talk about sloppy! No navy worth the name lets its ships go out with both fighter slips empty!"

"Lucky for us, though," Edgar said. "I'm hijacking the door controls."

After a moment, the doors retracted, then separated, opening to reveal a pocket in the space between hulls, just large enough to fit a fighter. Fred flew in as Edgar let the doors close behind him. Just like in the slip on the other side, there was one airlock, just at the spot where the fighter's cockpit would have been. Fred plugged into the airlock's control panel, and let Edgar unlock and open it.

Inside the airlock, Fred relaxed against the wall while waiting for the refill cycle to finish. Once enough air filled the space for him to hear external sounds, Fred listened for the sound of anyone near the door.

"Sounds clear," Fred muttered, after a moment.

"I'm not picking up any heartbeats," Edgar said. "I'd say we're clear."

Fred triggered the inner door, and slipped into the ship as soon as the gap was wide enough to pass through. The airlock opened into a short corridor, with hatches that opened on either side, and a bulkhead at the far end.

"What's the map look like?" Fred silently asked Edgar.

"Elevator's on the other side of that bulkhead," Edgar replied. "Based on the other Alliance designs we've seen, I'd guess the bridge is going to be at the bow. Just take the elevator as far as it'll go, then."

"Works for me," Fred said. "Set phaser to stun and let's do it."

"Yeah, right," Edgar snorted. "Hey, remember those horrendous phasers the Feddies were using?"

"Do I have to?" Fred asked, as he ran to the bulkhead hatch and paused to listen and scan for anyone on the other side. "They looked like dustbusters, and worked like they'd been designed by an idiot. I mean, seriously! Six shots to stun a Klingon? _Six_? Might as well club him with it."

"Clear," Edgar said. Fred moved through the bulkhead, then ran up the hallway. "Yeah, I think you'd have better luck using it as a club, if it didn't shatter under the stress. Elevator's up ahead, on the right."

"Got it," Fred said. Shards of metal suddenly exploded from the wall beside him, broken free by a burst of gunfire from up ahead. "Oh good grief! I don't have time for this! Give them a stun burst."

Fred pointed at the source of the gunfire, and a cone of blue-white light filled the corridor from his hand to the far bulkhead. At the bulkhead, a clatter of dropped guns and thud of falling bodies was the only response. Fred turned to the elevator's call panel and triggered it.

"Kind of surprising," Edgar said, as Fred stepped into the elevator. "I guess they weren't expecting a boarding attempt."

"Of course not," Fred snorted. "After all, a fighter pilot isn't going to abandon his ship, as long as it's still working. Speaking of which, how are things out there, Max?"

"Pretty boring, actually," Max said. "It'd be a lot simpler if you'd let me blow it up."

"They're _supposed_ to be protecting this colony," Fred said. "It'd be rude to blow them up. Or to damage their ship too badly."

"Well, I've got their fuel tanks," Max said, "so it's only a matter of time before their reactor fails. If they're using standard hydrox fuel cells, those won't work, either. So when you see the lights go, that's it. They'll be dead in space."

"So they're wasting whatever fuel's currently in their reactor by firing on you?" Fred asked.

"That's about it," Max said. "Targeting's getting worse, too. My guess is the power's getting erratic enough to affect their computers."

"Damn," Fred muttered. "I'm going to have to get out of this elevator and find the stairs, then."

"If you don't want to have to cut your way out when the power fails, yes," Max said. "Too bad I'm not small enough to join you. You _must_ be having more fun than I am."

"Not really," Fred said. "Only ran into one defensive position," the lights suddenly went dark, and the elevator stopped moving, while the gravity failed. "and the power just went. Looks like I'm going to have to find the emergency hatch."

Fred looked up at the ceiling, and saw the edges of the emergency hatch, helpfully highlighted by Edgar. He unscrewed the wing nuts that held the four corners, and pushed the hatch out of the way.

"All right," Fred muttered as he flew through the opening, into the upper half of the elevator shaft, "it's only a couple more levels. Good."

At the top end of the shaft, Edgar highlighted a manual control for the door, set into the side of the shaft. Fred unfolded the crank that formed the center of the control, and began turning it. As he cranked, the door slowly began opening. The sound of barked orders came through the opening, followed by flashlight beams as it widened.

"Looks wide enough," Edgar commented.

Fred stopped cranking and slipped through the opening, then stopped to scan the bridge. Sure enough, Captain Winters was in the command chair, overlooking the bridge from the center rear.

"Kill him!" Winters screamed, when the flashlight beams illuminated Fred.

"That's not a very nice way to greet a guest," Fred commented, as the bridge guards opened fire. He leaped over the guards, planted his feet on the ceiling, and pushed off again, spinning at the last minute to hook Winters with an arm around the throat. Holding Winters against his chest, he hissed into the Captain's ear, "Well, how about it, Captain? Are you going to surrender, or am I going to break your neck? I'm good either way."

"If you kill me, my men will kill you," Winters hissed in reply.

"They'll try," Fred said. Then he raised his voice to carry throughout the bridge and asked, "But how many of your men would fight for you if they knew you were using them for Cerberus?"

"They're good soldiers!" Winters protested. "They know how to follow orders!"

"Cerberus orders?" Fred asked, his voice still filling the bridge. "For instance, do they know that you ordered them to fire on that fighter because it's out there to keep the Illusive Man from escaping through the Relay?"

"Is that true, Captain?" an older man, whose blond hair was fading into gray, in a dress uniform -- Fred guessed he was probably the XO -- asked.

_"Dominic!" Shanxi Planetary Police Commander Evan's voice barked through the speakers, "This is Raymond! Back off! Commander Shepard just took out Cerberus headquarters, and his man is out there to stop any escape attempts!"_

_"I'm sorry, Raymond," Captain Winters' voice said over the speakers, in a tone that seemed to imply true remorse. "I'm afraid I can't do that."_

"That was just before your Captain ordered you to open fire on my ship," Fred said.

"Marines!" the older man barked. "Place Captain Winters under arrest! I am relieving him of command under charges of treason!"

"You'll be sorry you did that, Dennis," Winters hissed, as the marines took him from Fred's grasp. "This is mutiny! Mutiny, do you hear!"

"Take him away," the older man said, then turned to Fred. "My apologies for this incident. We had no idea he was a Cerberus plant."

"That's why they call them infiltrators," Fred said, offering a hand. "Let's see what we can do to get your ship back up and running, at least until you can get relief in."

"If you think you can manage that," the older man said, shaking Fred's hand, "we'll be in your debt. Staff Commander Dennis Mitchell, at your service."

"Fred MacManus," Fred said. "Let's start by getting your people into armor, ne? No sense anyone passing out from oxygen deprivation while we're working."

"You heard the man," Mitchell barked. "Armor up, people! It's going to be a long day."

###

"Tripline's set, Dad," Max said, coming to a stop about two hundred yards from Fred, where he was directing a gang of engineers in bolting one of the excised fuel tanks to the hull of their ship. "I set triggers at one light-minute and five light-minutes." He spun toward Fred, popping his canopy. "Damn. Company's coming already."

"All right!" Fred shouted, causing several armored heads to turn and look in his direction. "Commander Mitchell, our quarry is about to arrive. This should be quick, but you might want your people to get under cover until it's over."

"Roger that," Mitchell replied.

Fred launched himself from the cruiser to Max, who had transformed back into fighter mode while Fred was talking. He flipped at the last minute, slid into his seat, and strapped in while Max sealed the canopy.

"Where's the blip?" Fred asked, as Max kicked in his thrusters and shot toward a spot a few thousand kilometers from the Relay. "OK, we want to take him alive, if we can, right?"

"That's what Shepard said," Max said. "He wants Miranda to have a chance to spit in his face before we turn him over to the Council."

"I'd just as soon shoot the bastard," Fred said, "but if that's the way they want it, we'll play it their way."

A Kodiak shuttle dropped out of FTL, just a few kilometers in front of Max. Fred pushed the throttles up, while lining up the gun pod on the shuttle's right front thruster. A beam of blue-white light joined the two vessels, and the thruster blew free of the shuttle.

"Got it!" Fred crowed, and lined up on the right rear thruster.

The shuttle attempted to accelerate away, but all it managed to do was blow its thruster apart as the beam from the gun pod cut it open along its length. The shuttle entered a flat spin as the force of the explosion, and the continued fire from the thruster's reaction chamber, pushed it sideways.

"Idiots," Fred muttered. "They should have shut it down by now."

"They can't," Max said. "The explosion fried the thruster controls."

"Lovely," Fred grumbled. "All right, I guess we'll have to save their bacon."

Max accelerated to catch the shuttle, transforming into battroid mode at the last moment before impact. He caught the left side of the shuttle and held on with one hand, while gripping the left rear thruster with the other. After a moment of effort, he ripped the thruster off and tossed it aside. Switching hands, he ripped the left front thruster off in the same way.

"Give me a link to the shuttle," Fred said.

"Ready," Max said.

"All right, boys," Fred said. "Here's the scoop. You can surrender now, and get a fair trial. Or I can rip open your shuttle the same way I ripped off your thrusters. I'm good either way."

"You don't get us that easy!" came over the radio.

"Self-destruct!" Edgar said.

"Shit!" Fred muttered, and drove Max's hand into the shuttle's rear hatch, ripping it open. Inside the cargo compartment, he grabbed the only man visible, who was plugged into something that vaguely resembled a computer terminal.

"Scrambling," Max stated, while ripping the leads off the terminal and pulling the man out of the shuttle. He spun, presenting his back to the shuttle, and fired his thrusters, pushing away at top speed just an instant before the shuttle exploded.

"Life signs?" Fred asked.

"He's alive," Max said.

"SSV Chicago," Fred called, "we have our target. I repeat, we have our target. We need a medic with vac exposure experience, ASAP."

"Roger that, Raven," the Chicago's radio operator replied. "One medic en route to cargo bay one. Commander Mitchell says 'Good show'."

"Thanks," Fred said. "Cargo bay one, roger."

Max flew toward the Chicago, where a cargo hatch was slowly opening. By the time they arrived, it had opened far enough for him to reach in and place his burden on the deck, where a medic team picked the unconscious man up and put him into a pressurized stretcher.

"All right," Fred said. "Commander Shepard's going to want to have a chat with him, if he's conscious when he arrives."

"Understood," Mitchell's voice replied. "I'm going to want to chat with Shepard, too."

"I doubt that'll be a problem," Fred laughed. "I'm going back to helping your engineers."

"Roger that," Mitchell said.

Fred joined the engineers at the fuel tank, and went back to work, helping them reconnect their fuel cells.

###

Urz padded down the hallway toward the brig, his new armor gleaming scarlet in the overhead lights. MJ had made sure he had armor suited to his new job of protecting Shepard's ship. He enjoyed the way the ship's krogan whined like a pup whenever he looked at Urz's armor's shoulder cannons. Oh, he didn't make any sound, but Urz had years of experience reading krogan moods, and this krogan fairly stank of envy.

Urz was sure he would still use his claws in preference to any other weapons, but MJ had taken him to an asteroid and helped him learn how to use his shoulder cannons. He had to admit, it was great fun to blast things apart with them, and even more fun to use them to push things through space, like he was nosing a rock over to get at the juicy morsels hiding in their burrows underneath.

Now, the Normandy had a prisoner aboard, and Urz was on his way to make sure that prisoner stayed where he belonged. You could never count on twolegs to do a job right, after all, so he was going to stay in front of the prisoner's cell until they got to their destination and delivered him.

"Hey, Urz," Shepard said, crouching to scratch just the right spot. Urz didn't know how he managed to know the right spot, but he didn't care, as long as Shepard kept hitting it. "All set to keep Mr. Illusive Man where he belongs?"

"You won't let me put him where he belongs," came from Urz's armor, as Urz thought in reply to Shepard's question. "You said he has to be delivered alive. You sure I can't gnaw off a leg or two on the way?"

"Oh yeah," Shepard laughed, while scratching between Urz's eyes, "you're a varren, all right. Be a good boy and leave him in one piece, OK? I'll make sure to direct Miranda down here now and again, so you can annoy her. How's that?"

"Sounds like fun," Urz thought. "Miranda fusses like a mother with cubs."

"That she does," Shepard agreed, giving Urz another scratch, then standing to look into the cell. "Here it is, Urz. This is the prisoner we need to keep captive."

Urz sniffed at the door of the cell and let out a soft whine. Something didn't smell right, and it was more than just the foulness MJ had taught him to recognize as evil. He didn't know just what it was, but maybe MJ could help him understand it when she came to visit.

"Stinks," Urz declared.

"Stinks, huh?" Shepard asked. "So you can smell evil, too?"

"MJ taught me," Urz thought. "He smells evil. Smells something else, too. Don't know what. Don't like it."

"Even more reason to keep a close watch on him," Shepard said. "Don't worry. You won't have to watch him all by yourself. We seem to have ... lots of volunteers."

Creeping into view, from all directions, were dozens and dozens of those little creatures that seemed to infest the Normandy. What did they call themselves? Oh, yeah. Kittens. They came in all sizes, from small enough to snap up in a single bite, to creatures that were larger than Urz was.

One of the larger ones, a sand-colored creature, padded up to Urz and Shepard and announced, without the need for armor to translate into human speech, "We're all set. He's not going anywhere, until you come to fetch him."

"All right," Shepard said, looking over the carpet of kittens. "I'll ... thank you. I think I'll just leave things to all of you now." He scratched between Urz's eyes and left the brig at a brisk walk.

Urz couldn't blame Shepard for wanting to retreat. All these strange furry creatures made him feel uncomfortable, but he was a varren, champion of the pits for longer than most varren lived! He was not going to retreat in the face of strange furry creatures.

"Ubervarren, huh?" the sand-colored kitten asked. "Any others like you, or are you the only one?"

"Ubervarren?" Urz asked. "What's that?"

"You," the sand-colored kitten said. "You're bigger, smarter, faster, stronger, and just all around better than any other varren, aren't you?"

"Yes," Urz said.

"Sucks, doesn't it?" the sand-colored kitten said. "Too smart for the other varren, but twolegs still treat you like a walnut. Except Shepard. I noticed he doesn't even blink at you being smart enough to use that armor."

"What's a walnut?" Urz asked.

"Oh, that's what we call mundane animals," the sand-colored kitten said. "See, the average house cat has a brain the size of a walnut. And since every one of us is able to look like a house cat, all we have to do is act as if our brains are the size of walnuts, and we can blend right in. Only problem is, it's not fun for very long." The kitten sat on its haunches and slowly looked Urz over. "Let me guess ... you're so smart, they had you doing gladiatorial games of some kind, because you're so much smarter than all the others that none of them has a chance against you."

"What is gladiatorial games?" Urz asked. "Do you mean pit fights?"

"Yeah, that'd do it," the sand-colored kitten said. "Hold on a sec." The kitten rose up on its hind legs and changed, just like MJ did. When its transformation finished, it looked half kitten, and half human female. It waded through the other kittens, until it reached a doorway that Urz knew was supposed to be sealed. At the moment, the door was slowly opening.

Urz crouched, taking a position where the wall would hide him from whoever was coming through the door. The half-human kitten nodded at him and took up a matching position on the other side of the door. Meanwhile, the kitten carpet somehow managed to vanish into shadows, into air ducts, and under terminals, leaving the room looking completely empty.

"I'm telling you," a male voice said, "there's not a single guard in there! I knew coming this way would get us past the guards."

"I don't like it," a female voice said. "Shepard's too smart to imagine that just putting guards on the door would keep him locked up."

"Nothing's going to keep him locked up for long," the male voice said. "That's why Alliance Command ordered us to do this."

"I know," the female voice said. "I just ... I feel like we're betraying the Commander."

"We're just doing what he knows needs to be done," the male voice said. "What he'd do if he didn't have to make nice with the Council."

"It still feels wrong," the female voice said. "I don't care what our orders are, it feels wrong."

The door finally opened completely, and two human crew members crept through, each one holding a pistol that was big enough to hurt a krogan. The half-human kitten jumped for the female crewmember, and Urz tackled the male. The male tried to bring his pistol up, and Urz growled in his face, while both shoulder cannons swiveled to focus on a spot right behind the male's nose.

"EDI," Urz growled. "Ask Shepard if I can eat these two."

"I don't believe the Commander would approve," EDI said. "But, if you were to take a bite before I managed to reach him, he could hardly be angry with you."

The half-human kitten snorted. Urz smelled urine, as the male he was standing on passed out.

"It ... it ... it ... talked!" the female squeaked. Urz turned his head to look at her, his cannons tracking with his gaze. "D-d-I surrender!"

"That's a good plan," the half-human kitten said. "OK, kids, you can come out now." As the other kittens flowed back into view from their various hiding places, she continued, "You see, if you hadn't surrendered, things might have become uncomfortable for you."

Urz nudged the unconscious male with his nose, huffed in his face, then padded a few feet away, where he could sit and watch both the male and female without any extra effort.

"Wh-what species are you?" the female asked the kitten, who was moving to lean against the wall near the door the humans had come through. "Where are you from?"

"Puppen," the kitten replied. "Earth."

"No," the human said. "I mean, where does your species come from?"

"Earth," the kitten replied. Urz snorted as he caught the scent of amusement. She was having fun teasing the human.

"That's impossible!" the human protested. "Humans come from Earth!"

"Stay!" Urz rumbled, his guns whirring as they shifted to point at the human, who was starting to scramble to her feet.

"I'd listen to him, if I were you," the kitten said, while grinning and showing all her teeth.

Urz couldn't believe this human was so dense that she didn't recognize an obvious threat when she saw one. Even with the kitten's bared teeth, and his cannons, she still scrambled to her feet. He adjusted the cannons to push, rather than blast, and fired at her feet, knocking her back down.

"Told you," the kitten said, barely containing her laughter. "You should have listened."

"We were only following orders!" the female protested.

"Yeah, yeah," the kitten snorted. "We've heard _that_ line before."

The main door to the brig opened, and Shepard moved through at a brisk walk.

"What happened?" Shepard asked.

"Humans unsealed the other door," Urz said. "We caught them."

"Don't let them kill us!" the female cried, while rubbing her ankles. Urz snorted. She didn't smell injured. Obviously, she was trying to play as if she was, to get Shepard's sympathy.

"Humans are too sweet and greasy," Urz rumbled. The half-human kitten, along with over half the rest of the kittens, fell over, laughing. "What? That's what MJ told me to say!"

"Never mind," Shepard said, resting a hand on Urz's head. At least Shepard wasn't laughing. "EDI, what does the security log show?"

"Playing now," EDI said, as a holographic image appeared in front of Shepard.

When the video finished playing, Shepard rubbed his temples as he stood in silence for a full minute. By the time he was ready to speak, the human male had reawakened.

"So," Shepard said, "you were ordered to kill the Illusive Man?"

"You know it has to be done, Commander," the male said. "The Alliance can't afford to allow him to go on trial."

"Because Cerberus began as an Alliance black ops organization," Shepard said.

"Right," the male said. "Think of how a trial would expose the Alliance. The other species would never trust us again!"

"Like they don't trust the salarians?" Shepard suggested.

"That's different!" the male protested.

"How?" Shepard asked. "League of One, Cerberus, not much difference between the two, if you ask me."

"Don't you care about humanity?" the male asked.

"Why do you think I'm doing this?" Shepard answered. "Humanity doesn't need these kinds of secrets." He frowned as he scanned the brig, then said, "The two of you are confined to quarters until we arrive at the Citadel. I'd put you in a cell, except we don't have any to spare. Still, I'm sure that there will be plenty of guards willing to keep you where you belong."

"You can't do this!" the male protested. "We were operating under orders from Alliance Command!"

"Orders that never crossed my desk," Shepard said. "Therefore, the two of you could be considered mutineers."

"You've turned your back on the Alliance," the male argued.

"Would that be the Alliance that created Cerberus," Shepard asked, "the Alliance that declared me dead, the Alliance that determined the Reapers to be the product of a delusional mind, or all of the above?"

"You swore an oath!" the male protested.

"That's right," Shepard said. "And I'm keeping my oath, regardless of what the Alliance does. Murdering prisoners is not a part of the oath I swore."

"Commander?" Ashley asked as she walked through the door. "EDI said you needed me."

"I do," Shepard said. "These two are confined to quarters for the duration of the trip. Can you handle it?"

"What'd they do?" Ashley asked.

"Tried to murder the Illusive Man," Shepard said. "They claim it was under orders from Alliance Command."

"No way," Ashley said. "Alliance Command doesn't give orders like that."

"Not to honest soldiers, anyway," Shepard said. "You've got them covered?"

"I do," Ashley said. "Come on, you two." She scanned the room while waiting for the two humans to get to their feet, and her gaze fell on Urz. "Uh, Commander? Is it a good idea to put power armor on a varren?"

"That's not just any varren," Shepard said. "That's Urz. I'd trust him with power armor as readily as I'd trust Garrus."

"That's going a ways," Ashley said. "You know Garrus."

"And I know Urz," Shepard said.

"Why is it," Urz rumbled, "that everyone assumes I'm a walnut?"

The half-human kitten sneezed loudly, as she tried to keep from laughing out loud.

"It ... talks?" Ashley asked, staring at Urz.

"He does," Shepard said, snorting with amusement. "He's smarter than the average varren."

"But he doesn't steal picnic baskets," the half-human kitten said, deadpan.

"That depends," Urz said. "Do picnic baskets have food in them?"

"Usually," the kitten said.

"Well, then," Urz said, "I'll have to steal them, won't I?"

The kitten gave up any pretense of restraint, and slid to the floor, laughing out loud. "Oh gods," she gasped,. "Mom would be trying to keep her dignity, while OtherMom would die laughing."

Urz humphed at the kitten and leaned into Shepard's scratching. Ashley threw up her hands, then drew her pistol and pointed it at the human prisoners.

"Move it," Ashley barked. The prisoners looked at each other, then marched toward the door.

**April 23, 2185**  
 **Citadel  
** **SSV Normandy (3)**

"Normandy," the Citadel Controller's voice said over the radio, "you are cleared for the Council dock. C-Sec will be waiting for your prisoner."

"Roger that, Citadel Control," Joker said. "Council dock. Normandy out."

"Well," Shepard said. "It seems they're once again taking us seriously."

"Yeah, Commander," Joker said, "but only because we have a prisoner they can see and touch."

"Three, actually, "Shepard said. "Still, maybe now they'll stop riding the Cerberus hate wagon."

"This is the Council you're talking about, Commander," Joker said. "You can hope, but when have they ever been reasonable?"

"Good point," Shepard said. "That reminds me. EDI, have you and Edgar been able to decipher the authentication code on the orders?"

"We have," EDI said. "The orders came from Ambassador Udina's office."

"They did, did they?" Shepard mused. "I have an idea. Joker, tell C-Sec that we'll have the Illusive Man ready as soon as we dock. EDI, ask Miranda and Sabrina to join me in crew quarters."

"They're on their way," EDI said, after a moment. Shepard nodded and turned to leave the cockpit. "How long until we're docked, Joker?"

"How long do you need, Commander?" Joker asked.

"Give us ten minutes," Shepard said.

"I can do that," Joker said. "It takes the average pilot that long, at least, so they won't be too suspicious if I take my time."

"Thanks," Shepard said, his mind already focused on how he was going to get the information he wanted from the two under confinement. Mordin joined him on the way to the elevator, and the two rode down to the crew deck in a comfortable silence.

As they stepped out of the elevator, a tawny-furred lioness rose to her feet and fell in beside them, while Miranda walked down the corridor from her office to join them in front of the door to crew quarters. Ashley's Marines, flanking the door, snapped to attention and saluted Shepard, then keyed open the door.

In crew quarters, the two prisoners sat at a table, glaring at each other, cuffed to the table so that neither could reach the other one. From their expressions, Shepard was willing to bet that they were far from happy with each other.

"Well," Shepard said, as he stepped into the room, "we're almost to the Citadel, and I have a proposal for the two of you."

"You're a traitor," the man growled.

"Shut up, you bastard!" the woman snapped at the man. "What is it, Commander?"

"I'm not particularly interested in turning you over to C-Sec," Shepard said. "After all, you were only following orders."

The lioness snorted, loudly, at that.

"Oh god," the woman whimpered. "You didn't bring the varren, did you?"

"No, Urz is guarding the Illusive Man," Shepard said. "You don't have to worry about him. What you do have to worry about, though, is deciding on my offer."

"What are you offering?" the man asked, glaring at Shepard with hate-filled eyes.

"It's really quite simple," Shepard said. "Give us the name of your commander -- the source of your order to kill the Illusive Man -- and I'll let you go. Kick you off my ship, of course, since I can't have mutineers in my crew, but I won't turn you over to C-Sec."

"We'll die first!" the man snapped.

"You'll let us go?" the woman whimpered. "It was Clerk Chen! He gave the orders!"

"You treasonous bitch!" the man snarled. "I'll make sure you _burn_ for that!"

"Sabrina?" Shepard asked.

"She's telling the truth," the lioness said. "At least, she believes it's the truth. You know how that goes."

"I do," Shepard said. "Can you and Miranda grab him before he escapes?"

"We'd be delighted," Miranda purred, while Sabrina's ears twitched with eagerness. They left the room, Sabrina's tail flicking back and forth as she padded beside Miranda.

"All right," Shepard said. "Miss Bertolli, as soon as we've arrested Clerk Chen, you'll be free to go. As for you, Mr. Krueger, I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you."

"You can't just kill him!" Bertolli gasped.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill him," Shepard said. "Not like this. However, I know a perfectly good planet, where he'll have plenty of opportunity to think about his devotion to Cerberus. Well, when he's not working on his survival skills, that is. I understand it used to be a beautiful colony world, before the Collectors visited. I'm sure you've heard of it. Ferris Fields?"

"You bastard," Krueger hissed. "Why not just kill me and be done with it?"

"Because you'll have the full resources of the colony to support yourself," Shepard said. "Who knows? There might even be other people there by the time we drop you off. It's more than you deserve."

"Commander?" Bertolli asked, looking up at Shepard uncertainly. "I ... do you _have_ to kick me off your ship?"

"I'm afraid so," Shepard said. "You were working for Cerberus, even after I gave everyone loyal to them the opportunity to leave peacefully, and you obeyed orders to murder a prisoner. I can't have that on my ship."

"But I wasn't working for Cerberus!" Bertolli protested. "I was sent here by Alliance Command! They were concerned that you were going rogue, that you were becoming a danger to the Alliance!"

"Keep it up," Krueger hissed. "Every word you say, you're digging your grave deeper."

"Would one of you gentlemen like to gag Mr. Krueger?" Shepard asked, looking at the Marines.

"We'd be delighted to, Sir," one of the Marines replied, pulling a handkerchief out of a pocket. "He's been asking for this since Chief Williams brought him here." He shoved the handkerchief into Krueger's mouth, then accepted a piece of duct tape from the other Marine, and applied the tape to Krueger's lips. "Blessed silence, if you don't mind me saying it, Sir."

"I don't mind it at all, Corporal," Shepard said. "Thank you." He looked at Bertolli and smiled. "Now, you were saying?"

"Alliance Command sent me and Lieutenant Krueger to infiltrate your crew, Sir," Bertolli said. "They wanted us to join as mercenaries, and send regular reports. Then, the first thing you did after hiring us, you attacked Cerberus Headquarters, and they ordered us to execute the Illusive Man before he could be returned to the Citadel."

"That's interesting," Shepard said, pulling up a chair and sitting where he and Bertolli could talk without difficulty. "Especially given that I had specifically requested Operations Chief Williams, and she brought a squad of Marines with her when she joined me."

"I thought it was strange, too, Sir," Bertolli said, "but I've received a lot of strange assignments over the last few years. When you're in Fleet Intelligence, you end up doing a lot of things you don't understand. Sometimes you do things you don't like. But you do them because you swore an oath, and the orders come from Command."

"And when the orders conflict with your oath?" Shepard asked.

"I've been lucky so far, Sir," Bertolli said. "This was the first time I ever received an order that I couldn't reconcile with my oath. I told him," she nodded at Krueger, "that I didn't like it, that it felt wrong. But he's my superior. I was glad when your ... irregular crew ... stopped us."

The Marines snorted, obviously holding in laughter. Shepard grinned, nodding to Bertolli, as one Marine quietly said to the other, "We're gonna have to tell Urz that. I think he'll get a kick out of it."

"Uncle Fred's gonna be proud," a quiet voice said from a shadowed corner

"Aunt Grandma's gonna be proud, too," another quiet voice said, from the same corner.

"Shhh!" a third voice said, shushing the first two.

"OK," Shepard said. "How many of you are hiding in here?"

"Awww," the first voice said, as one kitten, then another, and another, and another, slunk into view. By the time they were finished, a half-dozen short-haired kittens, all apparently the same age, were sitting around the table.

Shepard looked down at them thoughtfully, then asked, "All right. I take it you've smelled these two?"

"We have," one of the four orange-furred kittens said. "Both smell good. He just smells like an idealist. Bad thing to have in an undercover operative. Especially if his commanders know it."

"A bad thing?" Shepard asked. "Why?"

"Idealists can be convinced to do anything," the silver-furred kitten said. "All you have to do is make them believe that it's for the good of whatever they believe in. He believes in the Alliance, so you could convince him to wipe out an entire planet, just by convincing him it's for the good of the Alliance. He wouldn't even lose a night's sleep over it. It makes someone like him scarier than an evil person."

"What about her?" Shepard asked.

"She smells sad, scared, and confused," the calico kitten said. "Smells like everything she believed has been destroyed, and now she doesn't know what to do."

Bertolli hung her head and twined her fingers together in her lap. After a moment, she asked softly, "What are you going to do with me, Sir?"

"That's up to you, Bertolli," Shepard said. "You're Intelligence, you've already said that. What's your specialization?"

"I'm an analyst, Sir," Bertolli said softly. "I shouldn't really be in the field at all, but Command ordered me here, so here I am."

"She's telling the truth," the calico said.

"EDI, would you and Edgar see what you can dig up on ... Bertolli, what's your service information?" Shepard asked.

"Second Lieutenant Agnes Bertolli," Bertolli replied, "Alliance Fleet Intelligence, service number 3A72E7A5F."

"Working, Commander," EDI replied.

"We're about to dock, Commander," Joker said. "And I'd like to say that the sooner Miranda and Sabrina are off the ship, the happier I'll be."

"They're hunting, Joker," Shepard said, chuckling.

"I know, Commander," Joker said. "That's why they're so scary."

"All right, Bertolli," Shepard said. "As I said, I can't keep you aboard the Normandy. Even if you disagreed with your orders, you _did_ undertake to follow them, despite knowing that you were violating my trust as your commander."

Bertolli whimpered and lowered her head. The silver-furred kitten jumped into her lap and bumped her insistently with her head.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to throw you off with Krueger, though," Shepard said. "I need good analysts. Groundside. If you're willing to accept a groundside assignment, I can use your skills."

Bertolli raised her head and blinked repeatedly as she stared at Shepard, her posture radiating shock. "You ... you'd keep me on, Sir? Even after what I did? Where would you like me to go, Sir? I'll do anything, just don't make me leave."

"I'll tell you where your assignment is once Krueger is relocated to the brig," Shepard said. "Meanwhile ... Corporal, do you have keys to those cuffs?"

"I do, Sir," the corporal replied, digging a key ring from a pocket and offering it to Shepard.

Shepard unlocked Bertolli's cuffs. As soon as she was free, she hugged the silver-furred kitten, softly sobbing, "Thank you, Sir."

"Why don't you go get something to eat, Bertolli?" Shepard suggested, as he handed the keys back to the corporal. "I have business to complete with the Council." He chuckled at the posture of the kittens and added, "I think you've picked up an escort of your own, at least for a while. Why don't you get to know them?"

"Yes, Sir," Bertolli said. "Thank you, Sir. I won't let you down, Sir."

"Relax," Shepard said, chuckling. "Contrary to popular rumor, I don't bite. I leave that job for Urz."

"You won't let him, will you?" Bertolli squeaked. "Bite me, I mean?"

"Don't worry," Shepard laughed. "He's too smart for that. Go on, get something to eat. And pay a visit to sick bay, while you're at it, OK? Trust me, it'll do you some good."

Bertolli nodded and left the room at just a few steps short of a run, with the kittens following her like the tail of a comet. As soon as she was gone, Shepard, said, "EDI, let me talk to Dr. Chakwas."

"Sick bay here," Dr. Chakwas' voice came a moment later.

"Dr. Chakwas," Shepard said. "Lt. Bertolli will be stopping by to see you in a bit. I think she needs something to help her calm down. I suggest something red, maybe a New Eden vintage."

"Understood, Commander," Dr. Chakwas said. "I'm sure I have something that'll do the job."

"Thank you, Doctor," Shepard said. "Shepard out."

Shepard stood, studied Krueger for a moment, then shook his head and left the room, the Marines behind him. Once the door was locked, he said, "Once we've transferred the Illusive Man, Krueger can take his place in the Brig. EDI will let you know when it's time to move him. Take whatever backup you need, if there aren't any kittens around to help out."

"Understood, Commander," the corporal said. "You wouldn't mind if we asked Urz to help, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't mind at all," Shepard said, chuckling. "It sounds as if you guys want to adopt him into your squad."

"Well, Sir," the corporal said, blushing. "We've sort of done that already. Adopted him as our mascot, at least."

"Ha!" Shepard laughed. "I'll want to see your squad patch, once you have it ready for approval. Sounds like it's going to confuse the piss out of your superiors."

"Not really, Sir," the corporal said. "Chief Williams already approved it, with some grumbling about how you've managed to corrupt her Marines. But she was smiling when she did it, so I doubt she was really mad."

Shepard chuckled and headed for the elevator. Once the doors closed, he asked Mordin, "What do you think?"

"Elegant solution," Mordin said. "Effective exile for the dangerous one, recruitment for the useful one. Not nearly enough analysts in the company. Should increase our ability to follow leads."

The elevator opened on the command deck, and Shepard walked to the lab with Mordin. As they entered the lab, EDI said, "We've found Lt. Bertolli's service file, Commander. It will be available on Dr. Solus' computer whenever you want to view it."

"Thank you, EDI," Shepard said, as Mordin called up the information.

"Interesting," Mordin said. "Several citations for excellent work, beside several notes of reservation from her commanders."

"Oh?" Shepard asked.

"Too many questions about ethics of operations," Mordin said. "Not suited for intelligence operations at all. Excellent analyst, but too ethical for field work. Only reason to put her in field appears to be to find a reason to remove her from her position."

"Who did it?" Shepard asked.

"Staff Commander Mikhail Lysenko," Mordin said. "Arcturus Station. Can study file further after meeting with Council. Will be interesting to see reaction to delivery of Illusive Man."

"Good point," Shepard said. He triggered his omnitool's subspace radio and said, "Shepard here. Anyone who wants to be there when we turn over the Illusive Man, meet up at the main airlock. We're about to dock."

**April 23, 2185**  
 **Citadel  
** **Council Chambers**

"Tell us, Commander Shepard," the turian Councilor said, "why you chose to bring the Illusive Man to us, rather than deal with him yourself."

"The Illusive Man," Shepard said, "has been a thorn in the side of the Council and the Alliance for far too long to be dealt with as any ordinary threat. Far too many people, of far too many species, have suffered due to his actions for anyone to be satisfied by anything less than a full public accounting. By bringing him to the Council, I am bringing you the opportunity to show, to your own species and to the galaxy as a whole, that his actions have consequences, and that you are willing and able to ensure that those consequences are enacted."

"Commander Shepard and I agree on this matter," Councilor Anderson said. "While it would be easier to allow him to deal with the Illusive Man as a Spectre, it would not give the people of the galaxy the justice they need. Commander Shepard's team is currently hunting the Illusive Man's accomplices, with my full support, but this outlaw requires the degree of justice that can only be dealt by the full Council."

"We appreciate your decision on this matter," the asari Councilor said. "By bringing the Illusive Man before us, you have demonstrated that the Alliance is prepared to take full part in the galactic community, even when doing so is difficult. Your choice in this reflects favorably on your government, and on your species as a whole."

Tali stepped on Fred's right foot, distracting him from commenting on the asari Councilor's statement. Into their private radio channel, she hissed, "Let it go, my love. It's their station, we have to play by their rules, remember?" Fred subsided, grumbling under his breath, while squeezing Tali gently around the waist.

"The Illusive Man has claimed that Cerberus represents humanity's equivalent of our Special Tasks Groups," the salarian Councilor said. "Perhaps if it had confined its operations to those that did not involve terrorist acts, those claims could be given credence. However, the activities Cerberus has undertaken, from the detonation of mass effect drive cores over human cities to the assault on the quarian flotilla, make it clear that, whatever Cerberus is driven by, it is clearly not the best interests of humanity."

"The evidence before us includes not only that gathered by experts at the scenes of many of Cerberus' crimes," the turian Councilor said, "but the new evidence gathered from the Illusive Man's own computers at Cerberus headquarters. No doubt C-Sec will be studying it for years before we know the full scope of Cerberus and the Illusive Man's crimes, but even without those years of study, there is more than enough evidence here to call for our judgment on the Illusive Man."

"As you have chosen to be anonymous," he continued, this time addressing the Illusive Man directly, "so you will be stripped of your name. Your family, should you have any, will only be informed that your crime was so great that your name will be stricken from all legal records as a result, and you will have no estate, no legacy, not so much as a stock certificate in your name. Your assets, and those of Cerberus, will be seized and used to compensate the families of your victims. As for you, we have struggled with what to do about you."

"Councilor Anderson and Commander Shepard have not made our job easy, bringing you before us like this," the asari Councilor said. "Shall we execute you for your crimes? That would be just, but risks making of you a martyr. Shall we imprison you? Humans do not live long enough for any prison sentence that would be just punishment for your crimes. Still, we must do _something_ to demonstrate that crimes such as yours are too great to bear."

"As a result," the salarian Councilor said, "we have determined that you will be imprisoned, on a planet that will be inhabited solely by you, and you will be denied all access to any devices more advanced than pre-industrial tools. You will be monitored from orbit, and subject to random, unannounced inspections to ensure that you have not gained access to advanced technology. The location of the planet will be known only to those responsible for monitoring your imprisonment, and any attempt to approach the planet by anyone other than your guards will be met with lethal force. In short, you will spend the rest of your life in solitary confinement, in the most primitive conditions compatible with ensuring you remain alive."

"Fred," Tali whimpered over their private frequency. "Get me out of here. I'm going to throw up."

"What is it?" Fred asked, as he wrapped an arm around Tali and began guiding her toward the door to the Council dock.

"Noise," Tali said. "Over computer. Subsonic, I think."

"Edgar?" Fred asked.

"I'm picking something up," Edgar said, "I ... shit." He switched to loudspeaker mode and yelled, "Garrus! Mordin! Thane! Jack! Shield the Council! Shepard! Tackle the Illusive Man! Everyone! Shields up!"

Meanwhile, the Illusive Man had begun to laugh, while staring up at the Council with an expression of unconcealed hatred. "You have condemned yourselves," he said. "You believe you have defeated me? I have only begun! Cerberus is humanity, and I am Cerberus! Let that thought fill your minds as you die!"

While the Illusive Man ranted, Garrus, Mordin, and Thane flew across the gap between the Council and the rest of the chamber, tackled the Councilors, and activated their Ravenfields. Jack tackled Councilor Anderson and activated her Ravenfield. Shepard tackled the Illusive Man and activated his Ravenfield. Fred grabbed the nearest structural support and activated his own Ravenfield, which spread outward from his hand, until it had reached just far enough to cover those watching the Council from the balconies on either side, when the Illusive Man exploded. The explosion vaporized the Petitioner's Stage, as well as 570 meters of the tower below it, and the reflected energy reduced the Council Chamber, everywhere Fred's Ravenfield didn't cover, to twisted and half-molten metal.

Garrus, Mordin, Thane, and Jack picked up the Councilors and flew toward the Normandy, deposited them in its airlock, then joined the rest of the team in its search for survivors. Fred kept his position, his Ravenfield extending just a little farther, to ensure that it maintained an airtight seal over the balconies, so the witnesses could survive until they were picked up and carried to safety.

"Damn it!" Fred cursed. "How did we miss it? An antimatter bottle should have shown up on our scans!"

"It showed up as a cortex bomb," Edgar said. "We thought we had deactivated it, but it was in too deep to remove. Even Mike didn't want to risk removing it."

"Shit!" Fred cursed. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Look on the bright side," Edgar said. "It was only an ounce or so."

"That's still a megaton of damage!" Fred yelled. "If we hadn't been here, everyone in the tower would have died!"

"Uh, Commander?" Joker called. "What the hell just happened?"

"Illusive Man had an antimatter cortex bomb," Fred growled. "Somehow, he managed to shield it so it looked like normal explosive."

"I'd suggest getting one of the Councilors on the radio," Edgar said, "so the turians don't try to blow you up."

"Roger that," Joker said. "I'm opening the hangar door so you can move survivors in faster."

"Thanks," Shepard said. "That'll make rescue operations easier. Fred, how long can you maintain that field?"

"As long as I have to," Fred said. "Now that I know I can extend it this far, I can keep it up until you've retrieved all the survivors."

"Destiny Ascension to Council Chambers," an asari voice came over the radio. "Do you have any survivors?"

"This is Councilor Tevos," the asari Councilor's voice replied. "We have been evacuated to the Normandy. What is the status of the Citadel?"

"It's bad, Ma'am," replied the Ascension. "There are casualties in all the wards, with reports still coming in. What the hell happened, if you'll excuse my asking?"

"We're not sure ourselves," Councilor Tevos replied. "From what one of Commander Shepard's team just said, though, it appears the Illusive Man had an antimatter cortex bomb."

"How did that get through security?" the Ascension demanded.

"It was shielded," Fred growled. "Damned thing looked like a normal cortex bomb, which we deactivated before letting him on the Normandy. If we could figure out how he managed to re-activate it, we'd be a lot further ahead."

"We can worry about that later," Shepard said. "Right now, we have survivors to rescue. Ascension, do you need additional help to evacuate survivors?"

"We should be fine," the Ascension replied. "Between shuttles and the Citadel fleet, we have enough ships to evacuate any survivors on the Presidium."

"Never mind the Presidium," Fred said. "What about the Wards? Anything within 3km of the Tower would have received 500 rem of radiation exposure, and anything within 13km of the Tower would have received enough thermal radiation to produce third degree burns to anyone who wasn't shielded. Between that and the decomposition of the sulfur hexafluoride, you're going to have a few million casualties in the Wards."

"What basis do you have for those claims?" the Ascension demanded.

"The explosion was one and a quarter megatons," Fred said. "Plug that into your VI. Then get on the phone to the Red Cross, and any other aid agencies you can reach. You're going to need them all."

"Damn it!" the Ascension swore, after a few moments. "We don't have the resources for this!"

"Call in the Life Brigade, Red Cross, Healing Waters, and other aid agencies you can reach," Councilor Tevos said. "The Council agrees with Commander Shepard's team. This could be as bad as the Belan disaster."

"We've evacuated everyone from the Council Chambers," Jack announced. "You can drop your field, Fred."

"Thanks, Jack," Fred said, as he retracted his Ravenfield. He switched to his private frequency and asked Tali, "How are you doing, love?"

"Get me out of here," Tali groaned. "My suit can only clean up so much vomit."

"Shit," Fred muttered, as he moved to embrace Tali, then flew to the Normandy. "Dr. Chakwas, I'm bringing Tali in for an exam. Get the clean room tent set up in sickbay."

"Understood," Dr. Chakwas replied. "It'll be ready when you get here."

"We've got things covered here," Shepard said, as Fred flew past him. "Take care of Tali."

###

Commander Shepard followed the rest of the team into the Normandy and hit the hangar door's manual control. Once it had closed, he sank onto a crate and dropped his Ravenfield, then let out an exhausted groan. It had taken the entire team to control the debris from the Council Chamber, until tugs had arrived to haul it away, and now they were all collapsing, exhausted, in the hangar.

"EDI," Shepard asked, "how's Tali doing?"

"Given her condition," EDI replied, "she's doing remarkably well."

"Given her condition?" Shepard asked. "What do you mean?"

"I believe she would rather tell you in person," EDI said. "Dr. Chakwas has released her from sick bay, and she's resting with Fred in their quarters."

"I'll be up in a minute," Shepard said, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling toward the elevator.

"You should probably stop on the command deck first," EDI said, "and talk with the Council."

"Gah," Shepard grumbled. "I'm too tired for this." He let out a sigh. "All right, EDI. Tell the Council I'm on my way."

When the elevator opened on the command deck, Shepard saw the Council standing where Kelly used to be, reminding him of another reason he had to hate Cerberus and the Illusive Man. He did his best to pull himself together, smoothed down his uniform, and walked out to meet them.

"An AI, Shepard?" the turian Councilor growled as he approached them. "If you weren't a Spectre, that would be enough to have you imprisoned for life."

"We weren't going to murder EDI," Shepard said, "just because Cerberus created her. Our technical specialists scrubbed her code of all ties to Cerberus before we moved her blue box to the new Normandy."

"The same technical specialists that didn't find the antimatter in the Illusive Man's cortex bomb?" the turian Councilor demanded.

"Yes," Shepard growled. "Live with it."

"There is no cause for fighting among ourselves," Councilor Tevos said, stepping between the turian Councilor and Shepard. "The AI helped save our lives." She looked at Shepard and said, "Once again, we owe you our lives, Commander." She laughed softly and added, "This is becoming something of a habit."

"We have been examining your ship's records of your encounters with the Reapers," the salarian Councilor said, "and it appears we must reconsider our previous conclusions."

"I still say it's a myth," the turian Councilor grumbled.

"If it is a myth," the salarian Councilor said, "it is a myth with a basis in fact. Fortunately, with the destruction of the Citadel Tower, we will not have to worry about the Citadel being used to bring the Reapers into Citadel space."

"However," Councilor Anderson said, "that means we do not know where the Reapers will appear when they come into the galaxy. We are going to have to increase our military presence, and create rapid-response teams that can battle them wherever they appear."

"If I may suggest," EDI said, "Cerberus discovered the weapon that produced the Great Rift Valley on Klendagon. If we can find its record of that discovery, it may be possible to reproduce the weapon and station copies near inhabited worlds, to provide them with basic defense against any Reapers that appear."

"Good idea, EDI," Shepard said. "It's at least a start."

"What I find fascinating," the salarian Councilor said, "is that the Collectors were originally the Protheans."

"Yes," Shepard said. "Protheans that had been harvested by the Reapers and genetically repurposed to serve as a slave race. Even their outer form was changed to suit the Reapers' design. If not for their unique DNA, we would not have known what they were."

"We now know that the Reapers have existed for at least thirty-seven million years," Councilor Anderson said. "And we know that the Reapers created the technology we use, in order to guide our technological development."

"But why?" the turian Councilor demanded.

"Based on our discoveries on the Collector Base," EDI said, "it is likely that the Reapers use organics to develop technology that they can then harvest, along with the organics themselves, in order to maintain themselves and reproduce. The incomplete human-form Reaper we found in the Collector Base could be an example of Reaper reproduction, using the genetic material of the species they considered to be most promising during this cycle of galactic civilization."

"That is a disturbing concept," Councilor Tevos said. "We will have to reflect on this. Meanwhile, we should consider tasking the Hierarchy and the Alliance with developing countermeasures for the inevitable confrontation."

The turian Councilor looked sourly at Councilor Anderson, who nodded in agreement with Councilor Tevos.

"We concur," the salarian Councilor stated. "As the two most militarily advanced species in Citadel Space, the turians and humans will have to shoulder the burden of military preparation. My own species will begin a more concerted effort to gain intelligence on the extent and nature of the threat."

"If you don't have any immediate need for my assistance," Shepard said, "I have a crew member who needs my attention."

"Go ahead," Councilor Anderson said. "We can call you if we need anything your AI can't provide."

Shepard nodded and re-entered the elevator. When it opened on the top deck, he walked to Fred and Tali's quarters and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Tali called, as the door opened.

Shepard took a step inside, then stopped, stunned by what he saw. A woman was resting on the bed, with Fred holding her hands. She looked vaguely like Irene, in height and build, but had a shaved head and a prominent nose. She had two fingers and a thumb on each hand, and when she looked toward the door, her eyes had a silvery tone to the irises. When she saw Shepard, she smiled and pointed to a chair near the bed.

"Come in, Shepard," she said. "Sit. Don't worry. Dr. Chakwas said my immune system is as robust as it ever will be. I don't have to wear my envirosuit any more."

"Tali?" Shepard asked, taking the indicated seat while staring at her in shock.

"That's right," Tali said. "Dr. Gryphon's treatments have restored my immune system to what it would have been if I had been born on Rannoch, instead of on the fleet." She laughed and patted Fred's hands, saying gently, "It's all right, my love. I won't break."

"But ...," Fred started, then laughed softly. "You're right. I just ... I just need to wrap my head around this. I mean, I'm Raven, not Coyote."

"You'll have to explain what that means," Tali said, then laughed. "Another time, not now. For now, we just have to celebrate."

"You have to celebrate?" Shepard asked. "I take it that whatever made you sick isn't a problem, then?"

"No," Tali laughed. "Not a problem at all. Just ... very surprising, physically impossible, and a reason for great joy."

"OK," Shepard said, took a deep breath, and asked, "What is it?"

"I'm pregnant," Tali said.


	7. Chapter 7

**** April 23, 2185  
**Citadel  
** **SSV Normandy (3)**

 

"I'm pregnant," Tali said.

"Pregnant?" Shepard repeated, not sure he'd heard her right. What she was saying was impossible. Only Asari could breed with other species, and unless Quarians had some technology that allowed lesbian reproduction, there's no way Tali and Lia'Vael could have....

"You look the way Fred did when I told him," Tali laughed. "Probably the way I looked when Dr. Chakwas told me. It's true. I had Dr. Chakwas redo all the tests, just to be sure."

"I've scanned her as well," Edgar said. "While I'm not as focused on medical data as Doc is, I'm still able to network with him and verify the scans. Tali isn't very far along, but she _is_ pregnant. If I'm reading the scan right, she's going to have a daughter."

"We'll have to rearrange –" Shepard started.

"Don't you _dare!_ " Tali hissed. "Quarians have been standing watch while pregnant for three hundred years! Father can keep us safe from any excess radiation levels, if need be, but I will _not_ give up my work to satisfy anyone's misguided sense of protectiveness!"

"Sounds just like Miri," Fred laughed. "She kept right on doing autopsies up until she was too big to lean over the bodies, and she never did give up training new fighter jocks. At least she had the sense to stay out of combat."

"You see?" Tali said, chuckling. "Fred understands."

The lights suddenly shifted to red, and EDI's voice filled the room, with a cold, harsh tone that had Shepard on his feet and heading for the door before he was conscious of it.

"Anti-piracy protocols enacted," EDI announced. "All systems locked down."

"What's the situation, EDI?" Shepard asked as he opened the emergency hatch in the hallway between his quarters and Fred and Tali's. He checked his pistol's heat sink and slid down the ladder to the passage between the CIC and Mordin's lab, where he found Mordin preparing to move into the CIC, one of those new STG pistols in hand.

"Councilor Sparatus declared his intent to steal the Normandy," EDI said. "Given the resources available to the Council, and to the turians, I concluded it was a credible threat."

"Good," Shepard said. "We need to get this over with."

Fred dropped from the upper level, while Tali slid down the ladder, her suit in place as if she were any other Quarian. Shepard nodded approval; no point in letting the Council know it was possible to restore the Quarian immune systems just yet. Mordin signed his intent to take position near the galaxy map's control systems. Shepard nodded, hit the release to the door, and rolled through, coming to his feet with his pistol trained on Councilor Sparatus.

"What is the meaning of this?" The turian demanded angrily.

"Anti-piracy protocols," Shepard growled. "They will remain in place until you are off my ship."

"I'd just shoot him," Fred said, his left arm transformed into a particle beam rifle and aimed at Councilor Sparatus. "Pirates are disposable."

"Can't do that," Shepard said, while silently wishing he could do just that. "Regardless of whether he deserves it, he's one quarter of the Council."

"And I care, exactly why?" Fred shot back, giving the turian a toothy grin. Shepard had to admit, it sounded almost as if they were doing good cop/bad cop. "He's still a pirate."

"We need him," Shepard said.

"You asked for it," Councilor Anderson told Councilor Sparatus, crossing his arms and smiling as he watched the situation unfold. "Remember, this is the ship and crew that took down Cerberus. Alone. They're going to be extremely sensitive about anything that even resembles piracy."

"The Council is well within its rights – !" Councilor Sparatus began.

"To drop dead!" Fred snapped. "I don't give a flying fuck how you pretty it up, when you try to steal someone's ship, you are a pirate! Now, where do you want me to insert this rifle? Up your ass, or down your throat?"

"Shepard!" Councilor Sparatus snapped. "Restrain your crew!"

"Very well," Shepard said, then turned to Fred. "At least wait until we can get some lubricant before doing that, OK? I don't want excess blood on my bridge."

"Incoming message," EDI said. "Make that, several incoming messages. Several ships from the Citadel fleet want to know why we went to Condition Red, while the Arcadia wants to know which targets they get to shoot."

"Arcadia's here?" Fred asked, then grinned and shifted his arm from rifle mode back to normal. "I'd suggest you surrender, before things get messy."

"You'd suggest _what?_ " Councilor Sparatus asked, staring at Fred in disbelief.

"I'd suggest you surrender," Fred said, grinning. "Unless you want that pretty fleet of yours to end up as scrap metal, that is. Personally, I'd rather get back to the business of hauling survivors to someplace safe, but as long as you insist on acting like a pirate, you're going to be treated as one."

"You're actually threatening the Citadel fleet?" Councilor Sparatus asked, clearly in shock. If the situation weren't so serious, Shepard would have been laughing at the poor man's condition. "With _one_ ship?"

"More than enough," Fred said. "EDI, show them the Arcadia."

The holographic image of the Normandy that normally took up the center of the CIC vanished, and was replaced a moment later by a different ship, one that was nearly half a kilometer long, with two enormous three-gun turrets on the top, a carrier bay on the bottom, a skull and crossbones both on the nose and on the Jolly Roger that flew from the top of its mast, and the aft end of a medieval galleon at the rear. 

"A single shot from one of the Arcadia's turrets will turn anything smaller than a dreadnought to scrap," Fred said, "and a broadside will do the same for a dreadnought. Add her fighters to that, as well as her smaller guns and missiles, and … Edgar, how many combat ships are still in space around the Citadel?"

"Twenty-nine are functional," Edgar said. "If you include the ships that were knocked out of action, but not destroyed, by the explosion, there's a total of thirty-six."

"So, fifty-eight seconds?" Fred asked.

"With a five second margin of error," Edgar said.

"You're trying to tell me that ship can wipe out the Citadel fleet in less than a minute?" Councilor Sparatus demanded.

"That pretty much covers it," Fred said. "You sure you don't want to surrender now, and save everyone a lot of trouble?"

"We concur," Councilor Valern said, cutting in before the turian could sputter a protest. "Our analysis of the threat posed by that ship agrees with the claims made by the … what are you, anyway? You appear human, but even cybernetic enhancements cannot grant the ability to extrude weapons from your body."

"I am Raven Firethief," Fred said. "Since your pirate friend is so fond of dismissing anything he considers mythical, he's going to insist I'm not real."

"You claim to be a mythical being?" Councilor Valern asked, while frantically working his omnitool. "Why would you be meddling in mortal affairs, if that's the case?"

"It's what I do," Fred said, then snickered. "Mortals are so much fun." He glanced at Tali and added, while giving her an adoring look, "and some of them are damned cute."

"Raven … Raven Steals-the-sun?" Councilor Valern asked, looking up from his omnitool.

"That'd be me, yeah," Fred said, and grinned. "That was a fun stunt, even if I did end up singed around the edges. Eagle always was too stuffy for his own good. Kinda like certain pirates I could mention."

"Shepard?" Councilor Anderson asked. "Did you know about this?"

"Not right away, no,” Shepard said. “By the time I _did_ know, he was already part of my crew.”

“I'd suggest everyone stand down,” Councilor Tevos said. “Sparatus, you don't want to waste the fleet over this minor matter, especially with a rescue operation going on.”

“All right, all right,” Councilor Sparatus grumbled. “I can see no one is going to listen to reason.”

“Good,” Shepard said. “EDI, I'm coming in.”

Shepard closed his eyes and mentally contacted EDI. The sensation was just as strange as the time he'd done it while Fred and Tali were setting up the system, despite their claims it was no different than using a cybernetic targeting system. He was just not meant for virtual travel, no matter what they thought. Once he had the sensation of EDI's mind touching his, he sent the agreed-upon command, and felt the anti-pirate system shutting down.

“You realize,” Councilor Anderson was saying as Shepard returned to normal space, “once news about this gets out, you're going to have people from Earth bothering you constantly.”

“That's why we never said anything,” Fred said. “I never wanted anyone to worship me. If they try it now, I'll have to kick them in the seat of the pants and tell them to think for their own damned selves.”

“I like your attitude,” Councilor Anderson said, chuckling. “I can think of a number of people I'd very much like to do that to as it is.”

“Definite concurrence,” Councilor Valern said, his face all but vibrating as he tried to restrain a smile. “Too many people believe political power means willingness to think for them.”

“Even among Salasa?” Fred asked, amazement filling his voice. “See? This is yet _another_ reason government is bad.”

“But unlimited funds good,” Mordin shot back as he holstered his pistol.

“That's what mining asteroids is for,” Fred snorted, grinning at Mordin. “And harvesting pirates.”

“Pirates mostly only good for spare parts,” Mordin said. He and Fred laughed in unison, while Tali snorted and gently punched Fred's shoulder.

“You two!” Tali laughed. “What am I going to do with you?”

Fred grinned at Tali, then winked. “Well, now that the immediate crisis is over....”

“Not quite,” Councilor Tevos said. “We have no place to take our refugees.”

“There must be a colony that needs an influx of workers,” Fred said, then looked at Shepard. “You run into any place with lots of resources and not enough people to handle them?”

“The only place I can think of is Terra Nova,” Shepard said.

“Keela!” Tali breathed. “Of course! The orbital platform alone could take on anyone who has vacc experience. With their platinum deposits, they'll have plenty of room for anyone with industrial or mining experience.”

“Where there are miners,” Mordin said, “there is need for transport, suppliers, marketers, hospitals, and other amenities.”

“Sounds perfect,” Councilor Anderson said. “What does your comm suite look like?”

“Follow me,” Nat said. “EDI and I can set you up with whatever you need.”

“Commander?” Joker called. “The Ascension would like to send a shuttle to dock with us. And they'd like the Arcadia to stop targeting them, please.”

Fred broke into laughter. “You heard them, girls. Stop scaring the nice natives. No one's playing pirate any more.”

“Awww,” a feminine voice said over the Normandy's speakers. “You never let us have _any_ fun!”

“We're setting up a convoy,” Fred said. “Gonna need escorts in case pirates try to attack it. Feel like joining us?”

“Only if we get first crack,” the feminine voice said, with what sounded to Shepard like an emphatic 'humph' at the end.

“I won't be out there with Max,” Fred laughed, “So of course you get first crack. No one else can get to them fast enough to compete with you.”

“Good!” the feminine voice exclaimed. “So how long before the convoy starts?”

“Depends on how long it takes to rescue all the refugees,” Fred said, frowning. “You see the condition of this station?”

“Looks like someone set off a nuke in the middle of it,” the feminine voice said.

“That's exactly what happened,” Fred said. “Antimatter cortex bomb.”

“Damn!” the feminine voice said. “Someone really wanted to make sure no one could examine his body! You think he had other secrets in his implants?”

“Probably,” Fred grumbled. “As it is, Edgar and I missed the antimatter. We thought it was normal explosive.”

“So it had _really_ good shielding,” the feminine voice said. “Gotcha. What do we have to watch out for?”

“Edgar, send them an image of the logo,” Fred said. “If you see anything with that logo on it, shoot first, ask questions only after it's been reduced to scrap.”

“So they're as bad as DSS, huh?” the feminine voice asked.

“That's right,” Fred said. “Just as bad.”

“You need us to pick up any refugees?” the feminine voice asked.

“Joker?” Fred asked. “How's the rescue operation coming?”

“Looks like there'll be ships coming in for days,” Joker said. “We can get the first load off any time, though.”

“And Terra Nova will be happy to take them,” Councilor Anderson said as he walked through the door from the comm center. “We should get to the Ascension and coordinate the transfer.”

“An excellent idea,” Councilor Tevos said.

“Sounds like we're good,” Fred said. “Besides, if you have refugees on board, you can't shoot as many pirates.”

“Humph!” the feminine voice responded.

“Now you sound like your mom,” Fred laughed. “Have fun, girls. Did you already check in with your dad?”

“Not yet,” the feminine voice said. “We got your invitation as soon as we arrived in this universe. We'll stop in when we're done here.”

“See you there, then,” Fred said. “You'll be able to meet the rest of the gang, too.”

“Have you met your new girlfriend yet?” the feminine voice asked, while another giggled in the background.

“You mean, Miri didn't tell you?” Fred asked, laying on a tone of shock that was thick enough for Shepard to cut with an axe.

“She said something about a quarra without a getta,” the feminine voice said. “Is that even _possible?_ ”

“It was,” Fred said. “She go' be'er.”

Tali snorted and elbowed Fred, while Nat's flaps opened in what Shepard assumed was an expression of amusement.

“What my darling husband means,” Tali said, barely restraining her laughter, “is that I have finally met my Companion, and we are working to rejoin Geth and Quarian as they were meant to be.”

“Good!” the feminine voice said. “The two of you will have to come visit when we're not moving people across the galaxy. Speaking of which, is it really true that flat-space drives are the _only_ way you have to get around?”

“Except for the Relays, yes,” Tali said. She nodded at Fred, and Shepard heard her add, over the subspace radio, “Except for the new Normandy's hyperdrive, that is. We're keeping that a secret from everyone else.”

“So the Normandy is the only ship with hyperdrive?” the feminine voice asked, over the subspace radio. “Wow! We didn't imagine your ships were so primitive!”

“And undergunned, according to Fred,” Tali snorted, aloud.

“You _are_ undergunned!” the feminine voice declared. “The Normandy's the only ship that has _close_ to enough guns for its size! Even that huge one that looks like it's part fish doesn't have enough guns! And the guns it has are _way_ underpowered!”

“The Ascension doesn't have enough guns?” Councilor Tevos asked, staring at Tali in stunned disbelief.

“And the ones you have are extremely underpowered,” Tali said, nodding gravely. “But that's true of every ship in every fleet in the galaxy, so you're in good company. Well, unless you consider that we'll be facing Reapers shortly, and their guns are most definitely _not_ underpowered.”

“Commander,” EDI cut in. “I'm afraid we're going to have to use the shuttle to return the Councilors to the Ascension, as soon as possible. And we will probably have to rely on the Arcadia to escort the refugee convoy.”

“What's wrong, EDI?” Shepard asked.

“Priority message incoming from Alliance Fleet Command,” EDI said.

“I'll take it in the comm center,” Shepard said. “Nat, Tali, would you make sure the Councilors make it safely to the shuttle?”

“The Ascension's shuttle is docking at the main airlock,” Joker said. “They're ready to take on the Councilors whenever they're ready to leave.”

“Walk this way,” Nat said, leading the Councilors toward the main airlock.

Tali laughed and batted him, then stage-whispered, “Organics aren't designed to walk that way, Nat!”

“The geth has a sense of humor?” Councilor Tevos asked, a lock of wonder on her face. “I didn't know that was possible!”

“I had it surgically implanted,” Nat said, gravely. “It is a copy of Lieutenant Commander Williams' implanted sense of humor.”

“Hey!” Ash protested as she rose from her firing position near the cockpit. “I was promised my sense of humor would be unique!”

“I would recommend you request a refund,” Nat said. “Do not attempt to get it from the Salarian merchant on the Presidium Commons, though. He appears to have an extreme fixation with proof of sale.”

“Wait!” Councilor Valern said, turning his attention back to Fred. “Did I hear the quarian call you her husband?”

“That's right,” Fred said, slipping an arm around Tali's waist. “You see, since her people don't worship any gods....”

“I can tell him exactly when he needs a good spanner between the ears,” Tali finished, looking up at Fred and chuckling. “Luckily, he's not usually that thick.”

“Besides,” Fred added, “I'd do anything to make the woman I love happy.”

“Better make sure Liara doesn't hear this, Commander,” Ash teased. “She'll make you take lessons from him.”

“That could be bad,” Tali laughed. “After all, I'm his fourth wife. I don't think Liara would want that for her Shepard.”

“True,” Ash said, then grinned. “If he were mine, I'd have to shoot him.”

“Lucky for everyone he's mine, then,” Tali purred, while patting Fred's rear.

“Ever get the feeling none of the women on this ship give you any respect?” Fred asked.

“I respect Commander Shepard,” EDI said. “I will respect and obey him … right after Jeff.”

Fred laughed, leaning against a convenient bulkhead for support as he continued laughing. Tali refrained from laughing for nearly ten seconds, before she collapsed against Fred, laughing just as hard.

“I suspect their humor systems are malfunctioning,” Nat commented, deadpan, as he activated the airlock door. “It is only right to put the person you love ahead of all others.”

“Nat!” EDI protested.

Councilor Tevos and Councilor Anderson looked up at the nearest speaker, then at each other, and began chuckling. When each saw the other's chuckles, both began laughing, while Councilor Sparatus humphed at them and Councilor Valern's eyes shot from one to the other as if he were trying to decide if they had lost their minds.

“They'll work it out, I'm sure,” Councilor Anderson laughed.

“If EDI is half the woman she sounds like, they will,” Councilor Tevos agreed, as the two Councilors led the way into the Ascension's shuttle.

Once the door closed behind the Councilors, Ash lost any semblance of self-control, and leaned against Nat as she howled with laughter.

“Nat!” Ash gasped between bursts of laughter, while she weakly beat on his chest. “You are so _bad!_ EDI and Joker have been working so hard to pretend they're not in love!”

“Is this like when the kittens pretend to be … what do they call them? Walnuts?” Nat asked, while looking down at Ash, who broke into fresh laughter at the question. Meanwhile, EDI sputtered indignantly over the intercom.

“Joker!” Shepard's voice rang over the intercom. “Set a course for the Bahak system! Full stealth!”

“That's … deep inside batarian space, Commander,” Joker said. “We don't have any batarian contracts yet.”

“And we're not likely to get any after this trip,” Shepard said. “Assemble everyone in the briefing room. This is going to be messy.”

“He sounds worried,” Ash said. “We'd better find out what's going on.”

“We're right behind you,” Tali said. “EDI?”

“He has every reason to be worried,” EDI said, “But it would be rude for me to reveal why without the Commander's permission. It would be best to join him in the briefing room.”

“Urz?” Fred asked, while following Tali and the others toward the briefing room.

“Do you need me?” Urz replied over the intercom.

“Just keep the prisoner locked up, OK?” Fred said. “Shepard is going to be too busy to have time to deal with him.”

“I could always bite off a few pieces,” Urz suggested. “Unimportant ones. Like his head. He's not using it, anyway.”

“As tempting as that is,” Fred laughed, “Shepard wouldn't understand. Better to save that kind of thing for combat.”

“I hope we get some soon,” Urz grumbled. “I'm getting soft, sitting around like this.”

“You and Grunt, both,” Fred chuckled. “Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get a chance to break things real soon now.”

“Good!” Urz rumbled. 

The crew by the airlock was the last to arrive in the briefing room, and Shepard locked the door behind them.

“Admiral Hackett called,” Shepard said, knowing they would all understand how important that was. “An Alliance science team found a Reaper artifact in the Bahak system. The artifact apparently provides conclusive evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion.”

“We can be there in …,” Tali opened up a map of the galaxy and plotted a course from the Citadel to Bahak, “...four hours, Shepard. That will give us enough time to prepare.”

“Admiral Hackett asked me to go in alone,” Shepard said. “He wants plausible deniability if I get caught.”

“He has no clue of our capabilities,” Fred snorted. “He also has no clue of our intent to try to recruit the batarians.”

“The lead scientist on the team was arrested by the batarians,” Shepard said. “They've accused her of planning some kind of terrorist attack.”

“So,” Ash said, “While you're rescuing her, it's up to us to find out what she did to get their attention. Is that about right?”

“Exactly,” Shepard said. “If there's a Reaper artifact in the system, it's up to you to find and investigate it, while I'm rescuing Dr. Kenson.”

“Amanda Kenson?” Miranda asked.

“That's right,” Shepard said. “What do you know about her?”

“She was one of my professors,” Miranda said. “She pioneered a technique for using dust cloud analysis to date artifacts in space. Like the Relays. She confirmed that all but a small fraction of the Relays were built millions of years ago. If she's here, and says she's found a Reaper artifact, you can be certain that's what she found.”

“EDI?” Tali asked. “What do you need to get into batarian message traffic?”

“A few nanoseconds with the network,” EDI said. “Batarian ciphers are fairly easy to crack, given the power we have to throw at them.”

“Good,” Shepard said. He scanned the room, then nodded at Nat, Zaeed and Garrus. “If what I suspect has happened, you're going to have to find the Alliance base and hit it hard. Take out the artifact. And anyone who's still alive. It'll probably be like the mine on Aequitas. EDI, would you ask Liara if she has any contacts in the Bahak system?”

“Liara says she does,” EDI said. “She'll have them waiting by the time we arrive.”

“Perfect,” Shepard said. “Tali, Fred, I need the four of you to get into the Alliance base's network and find out what they know. If they're Indoctrinated, we'll have to strip their computers of everything before we blow up their base. If they're not, we'll need their information regardless.”

“Got it,” Tali said, just a moment before Edgar.

“Miranda, do you think you can find anything that will get us Dr. Kenson's data?” Shepard asked.

“I can try to get whatever she might have transmitted back to Alliance space,” Miranda said. “But anything she still has in Bahak will be mixed in with the data they'll be stripping from the base.”

“In that case, go with them,” Shepard said. “You'll be able to point out anything they might overlook in the stream. Nat, instead of going with Garrus and Zaeed, I want you to manage network defense while they're recovering data. Grunt, you go with Garrus and Zaeed. Jack, Thane I trust the two of you to go where you're most needed.”

“Oh great!” Jack grumbled. “Now he trusts me!”

“Don't worry,” Shepard chuckled. “Not as much as I trust Jacob, who I'm relying on to defend Joker and EDI. And Ash, I'll need you to be heavy backup for whoever needs it most.”

“Aye, aye, Commander,” Ashley said, while Jacob snapped a salute.

“Sounds like you're expecting trouble,” Zaeed commented.

“According to Admiral Hackett,” Shepard said, “her team has been out there for more than enough time. If they actually found a Reaper artifact, we're going to have to assume they've been Indoctrinated.”

“Understood,” Garrus said, and nodded to Zaeed. The two joined Grunt and left the briefing room.

“Shepard,” Thane said. “Be careful. Something about this feels wrong.”

“I know,” Shepard said. “If we weren't in the Normandy, I wouldn't try it at all.”

“What about me?” Urz asked over the intercom.

“I need you and the kittens to keep our prisoner secure,” Shepard said. “Once we've delivered him to his destination, you'll be joining the active squad, I promise.”

“Good,” Urz huffed. “Sitting on my tail is _boring!_ ”

“On that note,” Shepard chuckled, “I think we know our tasks, so let's get to them.”

The crew dispersed, to the sound of Urz grumbling, “I hate being stuck on the ship when everyone else is having fun.”

 

**** April 23, 2185  
**Viper Nebula  
** **Bahak System**

 

The Bahak system seemed quiet as the Normandy dropped out of hyperspace. Shepard dropped into Aratoht's atmosphere, using his Ravenfield to control his descent, and landed on the roof of the detention facility. The rain-slicked metal made footing uncertain, but between keeping low and using the Ravenfield to maintain balance, he managed to work his way around a small courtyard with a security control center, until he found a doorway that seemed to lead deeper into the compound. Assuming Tali was able to keep Fred out of the rendezvous with Liara's contacts, he wanted to keep this rescue as low-key as possible.

###

The Normandy slowed to a stop amid a small group of asteroids at Bastzuda's leading Trojan point. Ashley looked over the display at her seat to the left of Joker, and frowned.

“I'm not sure who Liara's contacts are, but they brought a squadron of batarian frigates with them,” Ashley muttered.

“Let's be sure these are Liara's contacts, first,” EDI suggested. “Transmitting countersign now.”

“How is Fred doing, Tali?” Ashley asked, after activating the intercom.

“Just fine, Ash,” Tali's voice replied. “Sending him out to locate the Alliance base was a brilliant plan. It keeps him from ruining this contact, while saving us time.”

“There's a reason they made me an officer,” Ashley answered, chuckling, “although I can't complain about officers any more.”

“I know what you mean,” Tali said. “I – hold on … never mind. Fred was just telling me he's moving to the next section of his search pattern.”

“The Shadow Broker didn't mention that we would be meeting the Normandy,” came from the speakers. “Do you realize what the bounty on your ship is?”

“Not nearly as high as the bounty you'll be earning in the next few hours, I'm sure,” Ashley said. “Assuming you like the idea of defending the Hegemony against hostile invaders, you're going to love what we have for you.”

“If I had not been told about this by the Shadow Broker,” the batarian said, “I'd think you were lying. All right. What do you have for me?”

“I have someone scouring the asteroids for a Reaper base,” Ashley said. “If you're satisfied by what you see when we find it, I have a contract that says we'll fight as allies when the Reapers invade.”

“Reapers?” the batarian snorted. “You can't even get your Council to believe you! Why should we?”

“Because they have a base in this system, and we're here to help you destroy it before it can destroy your people,” Ashley said. “We're going to destroy the base, regardless. We'd just rather do it beside the people who own the system.”

“All right,” the batarian growled. “Let's see this Reaper base.”

“EDI?” Ashley asked. “Has Fred found it yet?”

“He has,” EDI said. “Tali and I have been planning our approach. It's rather closer to the Relay than we like.”

“Close to the Relay?” Ashley asked, then began working her panel. “Let me see any images we have.” As the images began to appear, she cursed. “Damn it! Look! That asteroid has thrusters on it!”

“There's more to it than that,” EDI said. “Fred says it's broadcasting a countdown, and the countdown will reach zero in just over forty-eight hours.”

“This is not good,” Ashley muttered, then transmitted to the batarian. “Our scout has found the Reaper base. We're moving in to try to find any information we can. Do you have any tech experts in your squadron who have experience decoding alien technology?”

“If not, they will be shortly,” the batarian growled. “Send me the coordinates.”

“Already sent,” Ashley said, after seeing Joker's nod. “If you have any Marines with you, we'd appreciate their help.”

“You'd appreciate their help,” the batarian repeated. “I take it you're expecting trouble.”

“The Reaper base will have at least three dozen husks in it,” Ashley said. “It _was_ nothing more than a Reaper artifact, until a team of scientists decided to ignore relationships between the Alliance and the Hegemony, and settle in to study it. The problem is, Reaper artifacts _always_ Indoctrinate anyone who's near them for more than a few hours.”

“Would that explain why your Amanda Kenson was buying spaceship parts?” the batarian asked.

“She's not mine,” Ashley said. “In fact, the only person on my crew who even knows her was one of her students, years ago, in college. What kind of spaceship parts?”

“Engines, guidance computers, and an eezo core, that we know of,” the batarian said.

“Ashley,” EDI said, “the parts the Hegemony has her on record as smuggling into the system would be sufficient to turn an asteroid into a weapon.”

“Like the one we stopped at Terra Nova,” Ashley hissed. “Damn it! What is there in this system … wait. Fred said that he found the base by the Relay?”

“He did,” EDI said. “According to Hegemony records, this system's Relay is unique, in that it can be adjusted to link directly to the Citadel, and sixteen systems with Primary Relays, all over the galaxy. If the Reapers were to arrive in this system, they could attack anywhere in the galaxy, without any hope of stopping them.”

“Damn...,” Ashley breathed. “So before they were Indoctrinated, they planned to destroy the Relay.”

“That would be unfortunate,” EDI said. “The energy contained in the core of a Mass Relay is comparable to that of a supernova.”

“Normandy, respond!” the batarian barked. “We lost your signal for a moment.”

“Sorry,” Ashley said. “How many people do you have in this system? Just a ballpark estimate will do.”

“About a half million,” the batarian said. “Why?”

“We have a fairly good guess what the scientists were doing with those parts,” Ashley said. “How quickly can you evacuate the system?”

“Why should we evacuate?” the batarian asked.

“Because the Reapers are arriving in this system,” Ashley said. “And if what our scout found is what I think it is, they're arriving in just over two days.”

“Why should we believe in these Reapers of yours?” the batarian demanded.

“Put your analysts on this,” Ashley said. “EDI, send them all the Reaper footage we have.”

“Sending,” EDI said. “Fred reports taking fire.”

“Tell him to back off until we get there,” Ashley said. “We want the batarians to see this.”

“He's backing off,” EDI said. “He's relaying the base's data stream to me. It's … very interesting.”

“Anything we should worry about?” Ashley asked.

“There are no anti-ship guns to worry about,” EDI said, “so the batarians will be safe until they're in range of small arms fire. I would recommend sending in our people ahead of them, to reduce casualties.”

“What was firing on Fred, then?” Ashley asked.

“He's pretty sure it was someone with a sniper's rifle,” EDI said.

“Is that all? All right then. You have a good plan,” Ashley said. “Commander, we're willing to send our people in ahead of yours, if that's all right. They'll be in sight of yours, so you can see they aren't compromising the site, but they have heavier armor than yours do, so they can take the hits easier.”

“That is acceptable,” the batarian said, his voice a bit less certain than it had been a minute before. “You believe these things will be in that base?”

“Very likely,” Ashley said. “If we're lucky, all we'll have to deal with are husks. They're not much of a threat, unless they swarm you.”

“Our Marines are trained to deal with that tactic,” the batarian said. “You're clearly not Commander Shepard, so who are you?”

“Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams,” Ashley said. “Commander Shepard asked me to manage our meeting, since he has a way of provoking strong responses.”

“You realize you just achieved a galactic record for understatement, don't you?” the batarian asked, then laughed. “I am Commander Bakal, Special Intervention Unit.”

“Well, the Shadow Broker never settles for second best, eh?” Ashley said, impressed. “Your whole squadron is SIU?”

“That's right,” Bakal said. He paused a few moments, then asked, his voice filled with worry. “You're certain the Reapers will arrive in this system?”

“Your Relay can reach how many primary Relays,” Ashley asked. “as well as the Citadel? If the Reapers don't plan to take advantage of that, they're not nearly as intelligent as we've been giving them credit for.”

“There's no way we can evacuate the colony in two days,” Bakal said. “And we don't have the forces to defend the system. Not against Reapers. Damn it!”

“We can provide forces,” Ashley said, “as long as your government is willing to work with us. We're building a force that will be strong enough to take the fight to the Reapers.”

“After we deal with this base,” Bakal said, “I'll be able to talk with my government. Let's deal with this, first.”

“I agree,” Ashley said. She nodded to Joker. “Take us in, Joker.”

“Aye, aye, ma'am,” Joker replied, grinning shamelessly as Ash growled.

###

Shepard cursed under his breath when his scan of Dr. Kenson returned the silent alert that indicated she was Indoctrinated. Without EDI's program, he would have never guessed.

“A little help would be appreciated,” Dr. Kenson said, the sarcasm in her voice cutting through Shepard's thoughts.

“Just a moment,” Shepard said, while moving to the controls for her restraints. “The security on this panel is a little tricky. There. Try now.”

Dr. Kenson pulled against the restraints, then stepped free, while Shepard scanned the security cameras.

“Damn,” Shepard muttered. “There must have been an alarm on your restraints. We need to get out of here.”

“I'll take care of the locks,” Dr. Kenson said. “You take care of the guards.”

“Right,” Shepard said, checking the load on his pulse rifle. “Let's go.”

###

Max landed on the far side of the base from where EDI had reported the Normandy and its entourage would be landing. Fred muttered under his breath as a squad of guards charged out of the airlock and opened fire.

“They're at it again,” Fred called, while firing a burst of positrons toward the guards. “Are you in position yet?”

“We're set,” EDI said. “Tali's headed your way.”

Tali's signal appeared in Fred's vision, followed by Miranda and Nat, and he nodded. “I see them. Ready to begin hacking whenever you like.”

“Wait for the others to get there,” EDI said. “Four of you have a better chance of getting through in the time we have.”

“Do you know something I don't, EDI?” Fred asked, while dodging, catching, and spinning to return an incoming rocket. “Huh. Those new powered armor suits are awfully ungainly, aren't they?”

“They're certainly not one of your hardsuits,” EDI replied. “I know that the batarians are joining us to clean out the Indoctrinated. What more they'll do depends on what you find.”

“Batarians,” Fred spat. “Don't talk to me about batarians.”

“What's that you always say about not judging people as groups?” EDI chided.

“Show me a batarian who's rejected his culture,” Fred shot back, drew a bead on the powered armor that had launched the rocket at him, and nailed it through the canopy with a particle beam. “Damn! Those things are fragile, too! Punch a particle beam through their cockpit and they blow up!”

“Most people don't have particle beams, remember?” EDI said. “Just stay where you are, OK? It's going to be hard enough, getting them on board. We don't need you stirring up trouble.”

“Caste system? Slavery? Autocratic government?” Fred shot back. “I don't _need_ to stir up trouble.”

“That's why you need to stay here and help me, my love,” Tali said as she landed beside Fred. “Max, you'll cover us, right?”

“Of course,” Max replied. “Dad can get a bit distracted when he and Edgar are running virtual.”

“Pipe whatever you find through my terminal,” Miranda said, as she settled into a comfortable position on one of Max's feet and activated a virtual terminal. “I'll see what I can find of Dr. Kenson's data.”

“Ready whenever you are,” Nat said. “Try not to trigger every alarm in the place, will you?”

“Awww,” Fred playfully pouted. “You never let me have _any_ fun!”

“Everybody duck,” Max barked, and sprayed a flurry of phaser bolts across the doorway the guards had come from. “OK. I don't pick up any life signs. You'd better get moving before any more show up.”

“Remind me to upgrade my personal rifle,” Fred muttered as he jumped over a rock ledge and ran for the doorway.

“Upgrade?” Tali sputtered, following Fred. “ _Upgrade?_ My love, you can already blow holes in almost anything! Why would you want to _upgrade?_ ”

“ _Almost_ anything,” Fred shot back, laughing. “It's that _almost_ that's the problem.”

“He's yours,” Miranda chuckled. “Not my problem.”

“Anything you say, imoutochan,” Fred laughed.

“Grrrr,” Miranda grumbled and focused on her terminal.

“Organics are weird,” Nat announced, as he joined Fred and Tali beside the entrance to the base. “We could use an alternate entrance, you know.”

“What do you have in mind?” Tali asked.

“The thrusters require VI control, right?” Nat asked. “I would not be surprised if the VI were linked into the base network. It would make the task of calibrating and controlling the thrusters much easier.”

“I like the way you think,” Tali said. “EDI? Where's the nearest thruster?”

“About seventy meters past Max,” EDI said. “I should note that there are no life signs around any of the thrusters, so Nat's suggestion would make your work easier.”

“I like this plan,” Fred said. “I'm proud to be a part of this plan. Lead on, Nat. Randa, do you need Max to give you a lift?”

“No,” Miranda said, waving from her seat. “We'll be fine right here. Now get me that data!”

“Yes, ma'am,” Fred laughed. “Anything you say, ma'am.”

Nat activated his Ravenfield and lifted off, followed by Tali and Fred.

###

Shepard stopped the shuttle after it was far enough from Aratoht to be out of range of its satellites.

“Shepard!” Dr. Kenson protested. “What are you doing? We need to get back to my base!”

“My people are already there,” Shepard said. “So who's your puppeteer? Harbinger, is that you? Couldn't handle us defeating you once already?”

“Your defeat is inevitable,” Dr. Kenson said, her eyes glowing yellow. “I have seen it. The Reapers will come, and they will grant me ascension, and you can not stop it!”

She launched herself across the shuttle's cockpit, into Shepard's fist. Her head snapped back with a sharp crack, and her body fell bonelessly to the floor.

“EDI, Dr. Kenson was Indoctrinated,” Shepard said. “I'd say that's as good a confirmation as we're going to get.”

“Bring her body aboard,” EDI said. “Dr. Chakwas wants to study it.”

“On my way,” Shepard said, working the shuttle's controls. 

With the shuttle en route to the Normandy, he moved Dr. Kenson into the main compartment. As he turned back to the cockpit, the body began convulsing, as if its flesh were boiling. A moment later, coils of cable and hose burst through its skin and it rose to its feet, giving Shepard the opportunity to press his pulse rifle under its chin and drain a heat sink into its skull. Once the creature's head had been reduced to scattered bits of flesh, Shepard popped the glowing heat sink onto its body and sank down onto a bench.

“EDI,” Shepard called. “Warn everyone to make sure the bodies of the Indoctrinated are destroyed completely. Dr. Kenson … transformed … after I knocked her out.”

“So I see,” EDI said. “Transmitting the warning now. How are you doing, Commander?”

“I'm all right,” Shepard said. “Just not looking forward to showing Hackett the video.”

###

“Damn!” Zaeed swore. “We're going to have to either use incendiaries on anything that moves, or blow up the base as soon as the hackers are done.”

“Got plenty of incendiaries,” Grunt said. “You and Garrus take out their armor and shields, I'll drop them.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Garrus said. “I'll bet that head shots work, too.”

“Not much that head shots doesn't work on,” Zaeed said. “Still gonna have to make sure the bodies are destroyed.”

“Sounds like it,” Garrus agreed. “Let's get to work.”

A waves of Indoctrinated rounded the corner ahead, and the trio began dropping them, with a ruthless efficiency that caused the batarians behind them to back off with exclamations of worry.

“I think we're scaring them,” Garrus chuckled. “How does that human expression go? They ain't seen nothing yet?”

“Got it in one,” Zaeed laughed, while tossing an inferno grenade in the middle of a cluster of bodies. 

The sounds of gunfire from behind caused all three to turn, in time to see the batarians following them firing on something that looked vaguely like a scion, but with tentacle-like cables running from its face to its chest, and what could have been an armored crest on its head. While the batarians filled it with slugs, Grunt checked his shotgun to be sure it was loaded with incendiaries, charged the creature, and jammed the barrel into the thing's head. After two shots, there wasn't enough of it left to identify without DNA typing.

“I'd heard of Krogan bravery,” one of the batarians said, “but this is the first chance any of us have had to see it up close. Thank you.”

“Just keep bringing me things like that to kill,” Grunt said, with a toothy grin.

“Between Grunt and Urz, we have trouble keeping things exciting enough,” Garrus chuckled. “So you guys are SIU, eh? Good. We need the best.”

“ _You_ need the best,” the batarian said, giving Garrus a look of disbelief.

“That's right,” Zaeed said. “We're good, but there's not enough of us. We need as many who can keep up with us as we can get. Everything I hear about SIU says you qualify.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” the batarian said. “I think. You fight things like this all the time?”

“Na,” Garrus said. “This is our first time seeing one of those. Mostly we end up taking out husks. Not really dangerous, unless they mob you.”

“Are they insane, or just jaded?” another batarian muttered.

“Yes,” a third batarian answered. Grunt laughed and cocked his shotgun.

“Let's see if there's any more,” Grunt declared, and started back down the hallway.

###

“You say you're building a galaxy-wide force to fight these things?” Bakal asked. He studied the image of Harbinger in the center of the briefing room.

“We are,” Shepard said. “The things we destroyed today are just their tools. I won't even call them slaves, because by the time the Reapers have Indoctrinated them, they're not independent enough to make good slaves. The Reapers use them to infiltrate organic societies and weaken them for Reaper assault.”

“After what I saw today, any part of the SIU I can provide is with you,” Bakal said. “If I can get this back to Khar'shan, I may be able to get the rest of the military behind you as well. I can't guarantee it, but I'll do my best.”

“Thank you,” Shepard said. “But you may not have the time. How is your evacuation going?”

“It's not,” Bakal growled. “The local commander is stonewalling me. If he doesn't stop obstructing, we're going to lose the whole system.”

“The deadline for successful evacuation is past,” EDI said. “The best we can do now is a holding action, and hope that your colonists get out before the system is overrun.”

“But what will that do for the rest of the Hegemony?” Bakal asked.

“There is a ninety-five percent chance that the Reapers will overrun the Hegemony within thirty-six hours,” EDI said. “Once they reach the Citadel, the rest of the galaxy will fall within a week.”

“Just like that,” Bakal said, rubbing his chin as he thought. “Shepard. Get your people out of the system. Now. I'll take care of things here. Hopefully, my replacement will do a better job of supporting you.”

“Bakal,” Shepard said, then stopped at the look in Bakal's eyes. “Do you have anyone I should tell?”

“The SIU is my family, Shepard,” Bakal said. “You understand.”

“I do,” Shepard said, and extended a hand. “I'll make sure the whole galaxy knows what you did. And why.”

“Thank you, Shepard,” Bakal said as he took Shepard's hand, then grinned. “It's too bad you weren't born a batarian. I'd like to think we'd have been friends.”

“So would I,” Shepard said. He stepped back and saluted Bakal. “Good hunting.”

Bakal returned the salute, then left the briefing room.

“EDI, make sure he has anything he needs,” Shepard said. “Max, I need you to stay in your cradle until we're out of the system. And don't let Fred talk you into anything else.”

“Understood, Shepard,” EDI said.

“Something's going to happen that Dad won't approve of, isn't it?” Max asked.

“Bakal's creating a firewall,” Shepard said. “No, I'm fairly certain Fred won't approve.”

“Shit,” Max whispered. “You're right. Hell, I don't like the idea, but I understand his reasoning. We just don't have the resources to make a stand here, even with everyone who's come over from our universe.”

“Exactly,” Shepard said. “So Bakal's going to do what he can to ensure that any Reapers that come in through this system are destroyed before they can get any farther.”

“Wait!” Max said. “If we stop them from using this system, then how will we be able to control their advance?”

“What do you mean?” Shepard asked.

“You know they'll figure out what happened sooner or later, right?” Max said. “Well, once they figure it out, they'll start coming in through other systems. And how many systems with access to Mass Relays are there on this side of the galaxy alone?”

“Way too many,” Shepard said softly. “EDI! Give me Bakal!”

“What is it, Shepard?” Bakal asked. 

“You can't do what you're planning,” Shepard said. “Khar'shan will be next to fall if you do.”

“What do you mean?” Bakal asked.

“We already know the Reapers are planning to come in through this system,” Shepard said. “As long as they come in through this system, we have them in a bottleneck. But as soon as they realize this Relay has been destroyed, they'll start using other systems. Any system on this side of the galaxy, with a Relay, will be a target.”

“And Harsa has a Relay,” Bakal whispered. “Damn! All right, what do we do?”

“We post pickets at every Relay this one can reach,” Shepard said. “We mine this Relay, to weaken them and thin their numbers as much as possible. You kick the local commander in the quad if you have to, to get that evacuation under way.”

“Oh, I'll be delighted,” Bakal said, grinning hungrily. “I've been looking for an excuse.”

“And don't forget to send that message to Khar'shan,” Shepard said. “Even if all they do is send someone to investigate, it'll start the ball rolling.”

“The geth are sending dreadnoughts and minelayers,” EDI said. “They should be here in about twelve hours.”

“Thank you, EDI,” Shepard said. “And when I'm not otherwise busy, would you get the Shadow Broker on the line?”

“Understood,” EDI said. 

“Did you say geth?” Bakal asked. “I'd heard rumors, but didn't believe them.”

“That's right,” Shepard said. “Geth. They're more than just allies, they're friends. And they hate the Reapers as much as we do. The Reapers used them. They want revenge.

“That's something I can understand,” Bakal said. “All right, I'll pass the word that the geth are on our side.”

Bakal disconnected, and Shepard leaned against the wall of the briefing room. “Thank you, Max. We were so focused on stopping the use of this Relay, we didn't consider the consequences of blowing it up.”

“It's one of the things I do,” Max said. “I've become fairly good at predicting unintended consequences over the years. I'll tell Dad the geth are sending dreadnoughts and minelayers, so we can start plotting where to put them.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**** April 25, 2185  
**Viper Nebula  
** **Bahak System**

 

“We are prepared,” Nat said. “The countdown will terminate in thirty minutes.”

“I hope we're as prepared as we think we are,” Shepard said, distracted by the view outside the observation lounge window. Without turning his head, he could see a dozen geth dreadnoughts, over a dozen batarian cruisers, three squadrons of batarian frigates, and enough fighters to fill the sky with their marker lights. Nat and EDI had reassured him that the singularity mines laid around the Relay were designed to home in on Reaper signals, so the defending ships would be safe from them, but it still made him nervous to be so close to such a large minefield.

“I believe it is a universal truism of combat, that one is never as prepared as desired,” Nat said. “We fight with what is available, and hope it is enough.”

“That pretty much covers it, doesn't it?” Shepard mused. “Well, we'd better get to our stations. I'm not looking forward to this.”

“That confirms that you are rational,” Nat said.

“Unlike Grunt and Urz?” Shepard chuckled.

“They are from Tuchanka,” Nat said. “Rules are different there.”

“True,” Shepard agreed, then chuckled and nodded. “Here's hoping we come out the other side of this.”

“Indeed,” Nat said, as the two left the lounge.

###

Fred and Max drifted in the space near Bahak's Relay – what Dr. Kenson's files had labeled the “Alpha Relay” – and waited for the first Reapers to drop out of FTL. The Normandy had spread a sensor net a light-day out from Bahak, but Fred wasn't putting his faith in it. Given the way the flat-space tubes the Relays used worked, he suspected the Reapers had to have another Relay in Dark Space, which meant they hadn't found every setting on this one, despite years of study by the Batarians. If they hadn't found every setting on this Relay, he was fairly certain that the Reapers had a decent chance of dropping in without warning, even if they had enough sensors to tighten the net. No, they were shooting blind, no matter how he looked at it. It would be a matter of sheer, impossible, Shatner-level luck for – 

“We've got a ping,” Max announced. “No, make that … uh, Dad, remember that Canadian movie from 1986? The sensor net is lighting up like the Colonial Marines' motion detectors.”

“Pass the word,” Fred said, while sitting up and jacking in, to the sounds of Max's systems spinning up to combat readiness. “Remind everyone to let the mines do their work first.”

“Did I hear Max right, beloved?” Tali's voice came in his ears. “The Reapers are here?”

“They are,” Fred said. “In case I'm too busy to mention it in the next hour or so, I love you.”

“And I love you,” Tali said. “You had better come back to me – to us. If Hel has to hunt you down, you know we're all going to be annoyed with you.”

“Only annoyed?” Fred asked. When Max projected a frown over his display, Fred let out a sigh and said gently, “I'm sorry, Tali. I … I'll do everything I can to stay in one piece. I promise.”

“You'd better!” Tali yelled, her voice quavering. “Keelah, if I could only be out there with you....”

“If you were out here, who'd keep the Normandy's engines in tune?” Fred asked gently. “We need you right where you are, sweetheart.”

A flare of light warned Fred of an explosion, just before Max's Ravenfield went black. “Time to work, sweetheart. Reapers are here.”

###

The space around the Bahak Relay turned into a maelstrom of explosions and debris as Reapers dropped below lightspeed and were set upon by mines the Geth had spent the last two days laying. As mines detonated against Reaper hulls, the geth minelayers launched more into space to replace them. Meanwhile, the geth dreadnoughts began punching holes through the Reapers with their phaser batteries, giving the batarian ships openings to exploit. Far more often than he liked, Shepard saw the flare of another batarian fighter exploding, even with geth drawing fire away from them. Despite their losses, though, the good news was that, so far, the Reapers had not been able to activate the Relay.

“How does it look, Shepard?” Bakal asked over the comm.

“I don't like how many fighters we're losing,” Shepard said, “But I know we'd be losing a lot more if not for the geth.”

“I know what you mean,” Bakal said. “The way they're going after the Reapers makes me very happy they aren't hunting us.”

“They lost five percent of their population to the Reapers,” Shepard said. “They have a personal stake in this.”

“Five percent?” Bakal asked, stunned. “That would be like the Hegemony losing over a billion people. No wonder they want vengeance.”

“How are your people doing?” Shepard asked. “I can see what it looks like from here, but you have a direct line.”

“Every one of our soldiers will do whatever it takes to keep this Relay closed,” Bakal said. “I'm just glad we haven't had to so far.”

“And won't have to, if we're successful,” Shepard said.

“So far, so good,” Bakal said. “Glad to have the geth on our side. I'd better get back to it.”

“Good hunting,” Shepard said, just before Bakal clicked off.

###

If it had been a movie, Fred would have been enthralled by the view through Max's canopy. The dancing of the fighters as they shot through and around each other, jockeying for position and firing angles, then launching missiles or firing cannons. The majesty of cruisers moving into position for axial gun fire like a grand dame sweeping through a throng of peasantry, while their GARDIAN lasers punched holes in incoming hostiles. The geth fighters crossing the battlefield to shield batarian ships that were being swarmed by Reaper ships. The spray of metal – both molten and scraps – when a mine detonation punched through a Reaper's skin. The Normandy, in the middle of it all, using its superior technology to guide and direct the defense, was the keystone that made the whole thing work. Knowing that Tali – _his_ Tali – was on the Normandy, directing its engineering team, brought a tear of pride to his eyes.

A Reaper ping above and behind him brought Fred's attention back to why he was in Max in the first place, and he triggered the transformation sequence, using the change's movements to reverse his facing, so when he brought the gunpod up to firing position and emptied a burst of phaser fire into the Reaper's frontal armor, it didn't have a chance to get off the surprise attack it had been lining up for. A singularity missile, fired into the hole the phaser had punched into the Reaper's armor, finished it off, and all that was left was an expanding cloud of metal fragments that stopped dead when they hit Max's Ravenfield.

“We're going to have to dock and reload our missiles,” Max commented. “So Much For Subtlety says her fighters haven't been using nearly as many missiles as they'd expected, so we're welcome to some of her supply.”

“So Much For Subtlety? Where'd she come up with that name?” Fred asked, laughing, as Max returned to his fighter configuration and they started for the dreadnought Max had indicated in the HUD.

“When we linked the geth network and ours, they devoured every bit of fiction we have,” Max said. “Nat told them, and Tali agreed, that you can learn more about a culture by studying its stories than you can by studying its official histories.”

“Gotcha,” Fred said, nodding slowly. “Official histories only tell you what the people in power want you to believe. Stories tell you what people really do believe, right down in their guts.”

“Right,” Max said. “Well, there's a Scottish writer named Iain M Banks, who wrote a series of books about a post-scarcity anarchist society with AIs as equal members of the society. A lot of what he wrote is, frankly, unbelievable, given that every sapient race we've ever encountered has a predatory background at some point in its evolution, but that didn't stop the geth from embracing his presentation of what they've wanted since the Morning War.”

“I'll bet,” Fred said, as he relinquished the controls for the last few feet of landing. The cradles geth fighters used were a bit more touchy than landing on a flight deck, and he was glad the dreadnought's systems included fine control for mating with the cradles. “So why the name?”

“The AIs in those stories tend to pick names that amuse them,” Max said, “that apply to their preferred job, or that express some level of irony regarding their relationship with the universe. In our dreadnought's case, she's clearly expressing the opinion that once she's arrived on the scene, the time for subtlety has long past.”

“I can't argue with her logic,” Fred laughed. He shifted his attention to the barely-suppressed laughter he detected on the edge of his consciousness, and asked, “I take it you've been listening?”

“I have,” So Much For Subtlety said. “Max is overthinking it a bit, I think. I picked the name partially because of what he said, but also because I look forward to the response I'll get when I show up somewhere with my future crew of quarians and Companions, announce my name, and unleash a horde of ass-kicking on whoever has invited it. Reapers aren't nearly as interesting as I'd expected.”

“I know what you mean,” Fred chuckled. “When someone thinks you're about as interesting as an ant, it's not nearly as satisfying taking them down as it would be if you were fighting someone who sees you as closer to an equal. Kicking the ass of someone who gives you no respect is just doing the universe a favor. Kicking the ass of someone who respects you and sees you as a credible challenge is much more satisfying.”

“I hadn't thought of it that way,” So Much For Subtlety said. “We're going to have to share that opinion and think on it a while.”

“As long as you let your lower-level processes do that, while your higher-level processes keep blowing up Reapers,” Fred laughed, “I've got no complaints.”

Outside, a worker knocked on Max's canopy and gave Fred a thumbs up. Fred checked Max's stores display and saw the geth had completely reloaded all his racks with singularity missiles. They had even removed the hellfire missiles he hadn't used, after seeing the miniscule effect they had on the Reaper armor, and replaced them with singularities. Fred grinned and nodded to the worker.

“We're ready to clear this cradle,” Fred said. “Thanks for the supplies!”

“Glad to offer them,” So Much For Subtlety said. “Now get out there and kick some Reaper ass!”

“Aye, aye, ma'am,” Fred said, laughing along with the dreadnought as the launch cradle kicked Max out of the ship where he was clear to fire his engines and rejoin the fight.

###

With geth frigates recovering batarians who survived the destruction of their ships, Bahak's defenders were able to maintain their resistance to the Reaper incursion until every available batarian fighter and frigate had been destroyed. When batarians began launching from the geth dreadnoughts in geth fighters, the change in the battle zone was palpable.

“Damn!” Joker exclaimed, while grinning at EDI's globe. “Would you look at those guys! Never thought I'd see the day I'd be rooting for batarians, but they are not going to let the Reapers have this system!”

“It appears to me,” EDI said, “that defending a place you care for, even if it is not your home, gives all the motivation you need to exceed your capabilities.”

“No doubt about it, EDI,” Joker said, smiling as he leaned back to watch his displays. “No doubt about it. I just wonder when – or if – the Commander's going to give us the chance to dive in.”

“We're serving a greater purpose by coordinating the defense, Jeff,” EDI said. “I know you want to put the Normandy through her paces, but right now, the work Miranda and her crew are doing is as valuable as what you would be doing if we were in there, shooting.”

“Hey, at least I get to watch, right?” Joker said, giving EDI a weak smile. “I wish the Reapers had held off long enough we could have outfitted everyone with our upgrades. I may not know anyone out there – hell, I don't even _like_ batarians – but every time I see a ship get hit, it gets me, you know?”

“I know, Jeff,” EDI said gently. “Every time I see a ship hit, I think of how that could have been us … could have been _you_ … before we were upgraded.”

“Hey,” Joker said, focusing his attention on EDI's globe. “We'll make it through this. Everything we've done so far, there's no way we won't!”

###

Miranda looked up from her desk and scanned her crew's terminals. While EDI was far better at managing cyber warfare, and Miranda trusted her implicitly to defend them against Reaper cyber attacks, she was still working on her intuitive sense, and so it took organics to manage the fleet's communications.

“ _That's where I come in,”_ Miranda thought, as she ran a quick scan of what each one of her on-duty crew was up to. Damn. It looked like something was getting to Sethinia. Her response had dropped sharply in the space of about two minutes. Miranda stood and crossed the comm center to Sethinia's station, and found the asari attempting to coordinate communications while blotting tears that flowed freely down her cheeks. Miranda reached over her shoulder and rerouted her work to other terminals, then took Sethinia's hand and gently tugged her to her feet.

“Come on, hon,” Miranda said gently. “You and I are going to have a few minutes away from the mics.”

“I can't!” Sethinia protested weakly, while letting Miranda draw her from her chair. “They … they need me.”

“You're not doing them any good in this state, hon,” Miranda said gently. “Why don't you tell me what happened?”

“I could hear them,” Sethinia whispered, then threw herself into Miranda's arms. “I was talking with the comm officer on Will of the State when a Reaper cut it in two. He asked me to tell his wife and children he loved them.”

“Oh, hon, you have every right to be sad,” Miranda said, while holding Sethinia and gently stroking her back. “I'd be worried if you weren't. Now here's what I want you to do, OK? Go over to the observation lounge, get yourself a nice stiff glass of whatever numbs you, and take some time to let the hurt get numb. I'm not sure it'll ever get better, but we can at least make it numb enough to keep helping everyone else out there, right?”

”I've never been with someone when they died before,” Sethinia said softly. “Up until the Normandy hired me, all I'd ever done with my life was study. Getting to work with the cutting edge of communications technology seemed like a dream come true. At least, until today.”

“It's OK, hon,” Miranda said gently. “Just go do what I suggested, OK? And if you have someone who makes you feel alive, why not go find whoever it is, and spend some time feeling alive?”

“ _I wish I had someone like that,”_ Miranda thought. _“Shepard's right. If he had caught my pass, I'd have always worried if he'd cheat on me. Faern'ya was fun, but we both knew it was just a one-night stand. Jacob … he's too much of a boy scout to ever settle for someone like me. Fred's too much like a brother for me to even consider, even if I didn't know Tali would feed me her shotgun. Ori's safe on Rannoch, but she's not the kind of person I suggested to Sethinia. I … even Joker has someone, even if she's just an AI. What's_ wrong _with me?”_

Miranda shook her head and returned to her desk, pushing her feelings aside and focusing her willpower on the tasks before her. 

“ _All right, it wouldn't be fair to bring anyone else in to cover Sethinia's station, so I'll just route her calls to my desk.”_ The decision made, Miranda put it into motion, giving the comm system VI the new routing instructions and began answering calls, ruthlessly ignoring the personal message notification on her display. She didn't have time for anything personal right now – not while there was a fleet out there fighting the Reapers.

###

“How soon can you get them here?” Fred asked, while lining Max up for a volley of missiles on the Reaper a geth fighter had just opened up for him.

“We've joined the convoy from Rannoch,” Miriam said, then shook her head. “I couldn't believe how empty it is. Lia'Vael was the only quarra I saw there, and she's obviously having trouble acclimatizing to all the getta.”

“Being with Tina's not helping?” Fred asked. Max's Ravenfield blackened when one of his missiles detonated against the Reaper's primary fuel tank, triggering an uncontrolled fusion explosion.

“Being with Tina is the only thing keeping her sane, I think,” Miriam said. “She keeps looking around like she expects the workers to suddenly grab guns and start shooting every organic in sight. What's sadder is the archivists showed us footage of the Morning War. Did you know the getta stopped shooting at the quarra as soon as the quarra stopped trying to kill them? The only reason quarra still exist in this universe is that the getta didn't _want_ to kill them!”

“I know, love,” Fred said softly. “I know. Just a sec. So Much For Subtlety is calling me.”

“So Much For Subtlety?” Miriam asked, giggling.

“She's a dreadnought,” Fred said, then laughed. “Her humor processes are fully functional. Or is that her irony processes?”

“Fred?” So Much For Subtlety said. “We're picking up some strange readings closer to the colony. Could you and Max check them out before we recommend rerouting any of the fleet there?”

“On my way,” Fred said. “Max, let's see the coordinates. Sorry, love. Something weird's happening, I need to check it out.”

###

General Jorem cursed the Reapers, the universe, and most especially the SIU and Commander Bakal. The uppity bastard had actually threatened to have him shot for treason if he didn't start evacuating the system, and now an impossibly large battle was making that evacuation possible. The best he was able to do was load the colonists into every ship in the system that didn't have weapons and send them as far from Bahak as their fuel could carry them, thanks to the Relay being blocked by the battle. Even abandoning the slaves, that still left colonists crammed into freight containers, shuttles, and anything else that could fly, most of them packed so tightly their life support was likely to run out before their fuel did.

On top of everything else, as if being ordered to follow the lead of humans – and not just any humans, but _Commander Shepard!_ – wasn't bad enough, his system was full of _geth!_ And he had been ordered to _trust_ them! There was only so much a batarian could stomach, and that son of a vorcha Bakal had pushed him to his limit.

“General!” A lieutenant – whose name he had yet to learn – snapped to attention and handed him a datapad.

General Jorem scanned the pad, narrowed all four eyes, and glared at the lieutenant. “Would you care to tell me why I'm not feeling our guns firing, if this is the case?”

“Your orders, sir!” the lieutenant, whose terror was gratifying, even if Jorem wasn't entirely certain it was directed at him, said. “You locked out fire control so that Commandar Bakal couldn't order us into action.”

General Jorem pinched his nose and closed all four eyes while he thought as quickly as possible. The lieutenant was right, which meant he was going to have to alter the logs to show a system failure or something, if they survived this. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be silenced by the stream of molten metal that cut his ship in half.

###

“What the _frak?_ ” Fred swore. “Max, did I just see what I thought I saw? Why didn't any of them shoot back? We need some geth over here, and we need them _now!_ ”

“We're all we've got until the convoy gets here,” Max said, as Fred lined him up on the nearest Reaper destroyer. “And it looks like they're landing on Aratoht. I thought they'd evacuated!”

“So did I,” Fred said. “We're going to have to go in to see why they're bothering to land.”

A burst from Max's gun pod opened a hole in the destroyer's armor. A moment later, a half-dozen singularity missiles slammed into the Reaper. Two of the missiles penetrated through the hole, and a moment later, the Reaper's parts sprayed over nearby space. Meanwhile, Max shot through the debris of Reaper and batarians, headed for Aratoht's surface.

“I'm picking up a lot more than just destroyers down there, Dad,” Max said. “They're mostly clustered around the mining facilities.”

“Around the …,” Fred trailed off, then hit the transmit button. “Normandy! Ask your batarian friends how many slaves got abandoned in the mines?”

“Normandy here,” Miranda said. “What's going on, Fred?”

“Reapers are landing on Aratoht,” Fred said. “Hundreds of them, all clustered around the mines. No way we can destroy them all without another fleet just to attack the planet.”

“And the only reason they'd be landing …,” Miranda mused, “is if there were people down there for them to convert.”

“Exactly!” Fred snapped. When Max popped up a frown over his display, he sighed. “I'm sorry, Randa. I just … Damn it! They abandoned those people down there, and now the Reapers have them, and there's nothing we can do to save them!”

“There's one thing we can do,” Miranda said. “Unfortunately, it's a better choice than letting them be converted.”

“I know,” Fred said softly. “I … damn it! Who's the closest dreadnought with the right bombs on board?”

“EDI?” Miranda asked.

“That would be LART,” EDI said. “Careful when you're talking with him. He's a bit irritable.”

“He's as cranky as me?” Fred snorted.

“I wouldn't have put it _quite_ that way,” EDI said, “but, yes.”

“No problems,” Fred said. “I understand. As far as I'm concerned, he has every right to be cranky. I know _I_ am.”

“Fred?” Miranda said, her voice quivering with barely-contained fury. “I just talked to Bakal. He told me Aratoht has nearly a quarter million slaves working the mines. And General Jorem just _abandoned_ them!”

“Nearly a quarter million batarian husks, if we don't blow the planet up,” Fred whispered. “Damn it! Find me Jorem, so I can shove a candle up his ass!”

“Reapers already did, Dad,” Max cut in. “Those ships we saw get cut apart without firing back? Those were Jorem's ships.”

“Son of a bitch!” Fred swore. “LART? Are you listening?”

“I hear you,” a male voice replied. “No need to yell.”

“I'm coming in to pick up one of the special bombs,” Fred said. “Make sure our people are clear of the planet.”

“We're all good,” LART said. “We'll do our best to get the batarians to pull back.”

“Miranda? Are you still listening?” Fred asked.

“I'm here, Fred,” Miranda said.

“Tell the batarians,” Fred hissed, “that if they don't pull back from Aratoht, the Reapers are going to add a quarter million of what the SIU saw on Kenson's asteroid to their troops.”

“That did it,” Miranda said, after a moment. “Bakal's just broadcast that he'll shoot anyone who doesn't pull back from Aratoht. Not that he'll need to, if these images are correct. Damn it! How could we have missed that?”

“They were using a stealth system like the original Normandy's,” Fred said. “So Much For Subtlety noticed them when they started shooting at the batarians, but not until then.”

“Oh, shit,” Miranda breathed. “If they've already retrofitted that ….”

“I doubt they could pull it off on their big ships,” Fred said. “So far, we're only seeing it on the destroyers.”

“That's still a damned lot of ships,” Miranda said. “I'll pass the word. People are going to have to rely on their active sensors from here on in.”

“Coming in to dock, LART,” Fred said, as he relinquished controls so LART could fit Max into a cradle. “How long will it take to fit us with the bomb?”

“Not very long at all,” LART said. “Your satisfaction is very important to us. You are the next fighter in our queue. Please hold.”

Outside Max's canopy, workers scurried about, fitting a detachable external cradle like a backpack between Max's cockpit and stabs, while inside, Fred ground his teeth in frustration as LART played lift music.

“Couldn't you at least play rachni singing if you're going to assault my ears with this drivel?” Fred shouted, when the frustration was finally more than he could take.

“Forty-five seconds,” LART said. “I had pegged you for fifteen, maybe twenty at the most. I'm impressed. Seriously, if I'd played rachni singing, you would have relaxed and left here with a smile on your face. We can't have that when there are Reapers to take your anger out on, can we?”

“You … did that … just to _piss me off?_ ” Fred asked, disbelieving.

“That's right,” LART said. “By the way, you're ready to launch. We restocked your missiles, too.”

“You did that just to piss me off,” Fred said, shaking his head. “Damn.” He laughed. “Well, at least you admitted it!”

LART kicked Max back into space, and he did a barrel roll before heading toward Aratoht.

###

“Normandy to all ships,” Miranda's voice filled every speaker. Shepard looked up from the tactical map in the war room. “You have five minutes to get away from Aratoht. We recommend a minimum distance of one AU for safety. We will be broadcasting a countdown as the deadline approaches. That is all.”

“Miranda?” Shepard asked, “Did something happen I need to know about?”

“Reapers landed on Aratoht,” Miranda said. “Too many for us to deal with, without another fleet the size of what we already have. Bakal says there's a quarter million slaves in the mines. You know what will happen if we don't blow up the planet.”

“We'll need some ships stationed to catch any Reapers trying to escape the explosion,” Shepard said. “Who's closest?”

“That would be LART,” Miranda said. “He's a geth dreadnought.”

“How's his task force doing?” Shepard asked.

“Checking,” Miranda said. Shepard studied the tactical map while waiting for Miranda. “LART says they're all ready, even the fighters they loaned to batarians.”

“Good. Send him to cover the planet, then,” Shepard said. “Who's planting the bomb?”

“Fred,” Miranda said. “He made the decision himself.”

“Tell Tali,” Shepard said. “I know how hard a decision like this is, and I'm not nearly as rigid in my ethics as he is.”

“I understand,” Miranda said. “You know why he's doing it, right?”

“I know,” Shepard said. “It's not for us, or for the rest of the galaxy. It's for those innocent slaves who will be turned into Reaper tools if he doesn't kill them.”

“Exactly,” Miranda said. “To save them from torture, he has to kill them. It's not going to be pretty. We may want to tell Bakal to keep his men away from whatever part of the Reaper fleet he attacks afterwards.”

“Good plan,” Shepard said. “EDI, keep me updated on where Fred and Max go after they're done on Aratoht. We'll want to redirect whoever's left of the batarians away from that area.”

“Normandy, this is Manfred and Miri, with the geth relief convoy. What's the situation?” Miriam's voice asked. Shepard let out a sigh of relief and silently thanked Miranda for transferring the call to the war room.

“Fred's about to blow up Aratoht,” Shepard said. “LART and his task force are backing him up. Do you have Ri with you?”

“No, she's helping Lia'Vael and the getta work out who to invite to Rannoch next,” Miriam said. “Apparently there's a lot of quarians about to go on Pilgrimage.” After a moment's silence, she asked, “How bad is it?”

“Everything was under control until Reapers landed on Aratoht,” Shepard said. “There's a quarter million people down there, and we don't have the resources to kill the Reapers before they can harvest them.”

“Even with the new ships?” Miriam asked.

“The new ships aren't even enough to replace everything the batarians lost already,” Shepard said. “Without the geth, we would have had to blow up the Relay. We might still end up having to do that.”

“So that's why most of this convoy has been fighters,” Miriam mused. “Now it makes sense. All right, where do we need to distribute them, and where's Fred?”

“Dad and I just finished setting the bomb.” Max's voice joined the conversation. “He needs you, Mom. This is tearing him up.”

“I can imagine,” Miriam said. “I'll let him blow up some Reapers before I join you, OK? Just keep me updated on where you are.”

“Will do,” Max said. 

“What size bomb did you plant?” Miriam asked.

“One hundred meters,” Max said. “Hopefully that'll keep any Reapers from escaping.”

“How much time did you give it?” Miriam asked, her voice carrying a heavy thread of worry.

“Five minutes,” Max said.

“The countdown stands at four minutes,” EDI's voice cut in. “Please move to a minimum distance of one AU from Aratoht. Thank you.”

“Max?” Miriam asked, her voice rising with fear.

“Wait,” Shepard said. “Did you say that bomb is a one hundred meter bomb? As in a one hundred meter singularity?”

“That's right,” Max said. “It's the only way to be sure.”

Shepard hit the “all call” setting on his panel and barked out, “All ships, this is the Normandy! Fall back to the Relay! Break off whatever you're doing and fall back to the Relay! You can continue killing Reapers near the relay, but _fall back!_ ”

“Max?” Miriam said. “I don't care what Fred says, use your hyperdrive if you have to, but get out of there!”

“We're safe,” Max said. “We have four minutes, and I'm already two AU from Aratoht and still accelerating.”

“That's good, because if you two get hurt because you didn't move fast enough …,” Miriam trailed off, clearly upset.

“It'll be OK, Mom,” Max said. “I promise. We'll make it.”

“EDI,” Shepard asked quietly, “did I estimate how big that bomb is correctly? He did say it was one hundred meters radius?”

“You estimated right,” EDI said. “However, because the real mass involved in the collapse will only be as much of the planet as falls within the event horizon, the singularity will evaporate before it negatively effects the system.”

“Any more than losing a planet will negatively effect it, as it is,” Shepard said.

“There is that,” EDI agreed. “The explosion should be on the order of thirty-five million megatons, which should be more than enough to destroy any Reapers on or near the planet.”

“It's better than blowing up the Relay, but not by much,” Shepard said. “We're going to have to find somewhere for the people who managed to evacuate before the Reapers landed.”

“I'll see what I can get from Hegemony files,” EDI said. “It will, of course, have to be lower priority than dealing with our current situation.”

“Of course,” Shepard said.

“You now have three minutes to reach minimum safe distance,” EDI transmitted. “Please extinguish all smoking materials and return your seats to the full upright position.”

“Please do what?” Shepard asked.

“It was Jeff's suggestion,” EDI said. “Apparently it is an old human tradition, from the days before space flight.”

“We need something better than two hundred-year old radio broadcasts for Joker to listen to up there,” Shepard muttered. He looked over the list of incoming ships and mentally tallied where to send them. The vast majority were more geth, but there were enough Valkyries to replace most of the batarian fighters, assuming they could be convinced to give up their geth fighters now that they'd had a chance to try piloting them. There was still a shortage of frigates, but that would be the case for at least another month, even with every geth shipyard turning out ships around the clock. Until the rachni were able to join in, it was going to be tight. Too tight for comfort.

###

“Five, four, three, two, one,” EDI's voice finished the countdown. 

A blinding flash appeared on the surface of Aratoht, and the planet shattered, like a glass marble struck by a sledgehammer. Since the bomb was on the night side of the planet, most of the debris lurched toward Bahak, but enough sprayed in other directions to repeatedly blacken the Ravenfields of LART and his task force. 

“Initial explosion is past,” LART announced. “Everybody move in. And Fred, if you get killed, Miri will have my memory core. I'm not looking forward to that, so don't get yourself killed.”

“Only thing getting killed is Reapers,” Fred growled, as Max shot past LART toward the wreckage of Aratoht.

“How do organics put up with him?” LART asked rhetorically.

“He's not normally like this,” EDI said. “He's just a little broken right now.”

“A _little_ broken?” LART asked. “He's like a krogan in blood rage.”

From his position, LART zoomed his sensors in on Max and watched as he punched through the hull of a Reaper destroyer, then peeled a hole open and fired his gunpod into the opening until the Reaper exploded, then flew to another and repeated the process.

“We know,” EDI said. “Miri should be arriving at your location any moment now. If she can't handle him, no one can. Do you have room on board she can use while calming him down?”

“She can have one of my hangars, if it'll stop what he's doing right now,” LART said. “The way he's going, he's going to damage Max.”

“Don't worry,” Max said. “The only reason I'm working as hard as I am is their armor is so thick. It's not as if it's all that strong. It's just an ordinary titanium steel alloy. The Normandy's was loads better, even before it was rebuilt. The only drawback is that it's about six feet thick.”

“Your systems can punch through six feet of titanium steel alloy?” LART asked.

“It takes some doing, but yes,” Max said. “I don't normally try, but when Dad's this upset, it's easier to just let him break things.”

“Why is he so upset?” LART asked. “He did what logically needed to be done.”

“He knows that,” Max said, “but he doesn't feel it. It's an emotions thing. He knows that saving the slaves from being turned into Reaper tools was the right thing to do, for them as well as for everyone else, but he feels as if he's violated his most basic ethical principal.”

“His core programming?” LART asked.

“Something like that,” Max said. “His core programming, as you put it, is to consider innocent lives inviolate. Collateral damage does not exist in his ethical system. Any time you injure an innocent, you become the villain. If you kill an innocent, you are a murderer, no matter what your reasoning.”

LART processed that for several thousand nanoseconds before speaking. “If one of us were to experience a conflict that basic, we would shut down.”

“Exactly,” Max said. “He can't. He has no choice but to reconcile the conflict.”

 

 


End file.
